The Perceived School Climate in Invitational Schools in Hong Kong

Abstract

This article describes the use of the Chinese translation of the revised Inviting School Survey (ISS-R; Smith, 2005; Smith &Bernard, 2004) to measure the invitational climate of seven invitational secondary schools in Hong Kong. The five subscales ofChinese version of ISS-R were found to be valid and reliable in a sample of 706 Grade 11 students. Students’ perceptions ofthe invitational climate in the key areas of people, places, processes, policies, and programs (5P’s) were analyzed. It issuggested that indications of invitational climate in the 5P’s could facilitate teachers’ and administrators’ consideration inimproving invitational practices to cater for the needs of different groups of students.

Secondary Students’ Self-Perceptions of School Climate and Subjective Well-Being: Invitational Education Meets Positive Psychology

“…Both the perceptual tradition and social cognitive theory recognize the meaningfulness of perceptions for understanding and predicting individual behavior (Bandura, 1986(Bandura, , 2001Purkey & Novak, 2016). Student perceptions are a reflection and product of school climate that provide an individual-level analysis of the perceived school climate that differs based on individual characteristics and experiences (Carmen & Mantak, 2011;Cohen, 2006;Ng & Yuen, 2011). Perceptions are shaped by both individual and school-level factors with individual-level factors, such as gender and ethnicity being responsible for much of the variance in student perceptions of school climate.…”

“…Perceptions are shaped by both individual and school-level factors with individual-level factors, such as gender and ethnicity being responsible for much of the variance in student perceptions of school climate. This is compared to school-level factors such as school size, staff turnover, and socioeconomic area (Fan, Williams, & Corkin, 2011;Koth et al, 2008;Ng & Yuen, 2011).…”

“…Invitational Education is a whole school approach that aims to address school climate and has been supported as a method to increase student well-being (Ng & Yuen, 2011;Purkey & Novak, 2016). The invitational education approach is based on Invitational Theory and Practice (ITP), an education practice model that focuses on the systems that promote the intellectual, psychological, social, moral, and physical potential of individuals (Purkey & Novak, 2016).…”

“…Invitational education as a framework for developing inviting schools has been adopted in schools internationally (Purkey & Novak, 2016;Smith, 2016). Qualitative studies of schools in Hong Kong adopting ITP have demonstrated improvement in student's academic performance (Ng & Yuen, 2011;Poon & Leung, 2010). However, additional empirical investigation of invitational education is required to support whether it is an effective educational approach to promote student well-being (Carmen & Mantak, 2011;Ng & Yuen, 2011).…”

“…Qualitative studies of schools in Hong Kong adopting ITP have demonstrated improvement in student's academic performance (Ng & Yuen, 2011;Poon & Leung, 2010). However, additional empirical investigation of invitational education is required to support whether it is an effective educational approach to promote student well-being (Carmen & Mantak, 2011;Ng & Yuen, 2011). ITP theory has been criticised by Fink (2013) who argues for the consideration of the political context of the school system.…”