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NEW BOOK BY UNCG PROFESSOR EXAMINES
“THE WHISPERING SELF” AND STUDENT SUCCESS
 

By Laurie Gengenbach
GREENSBORO — Why do some students succeed in school and others fail? It may have more to do with that little voice inside their heads than in their I.Q.s or the number of  hours they spend hitting the books, according Dr. William Watson Purkey, professor of counselor education at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Does that voice say, “I can’t take tests,” or, “I do better at tests when I’m prepared?” Does it say, “I can’t do math,” or, “Math is harder for me than the other subjects I’m good at?”

Does it whisper “I’m worthy” or, “I’m no good?”

“Everyone has an inner voice that molds his or her behaviors,” says Purkey. It’s what he calls “the whispering self,” and when it’s positive and realistic it can spell success -- or prove your undoing if it’s too negative. “The problem is, too many of us – children included – give more weight to the negatives than the positives,” he says.

The importance of helping students replace habitual negative inner dialogue with reasonable, positive dialogue is the subject of his new book, “What Students Say to Themselves: Internal Dialogue and School Success,” published by Corwin Press. The goal of a good teacher is to lead students to self-efficacy, in part by helping them recognize and eliminate their own self-destructive dialogue, Purkey says.

The book’s topic is at the core of Purkey’s philosophy he has dubbed “invitational education” --  a practice of communicating caring messages intended to summon forth human potential, while identifying and changing forces that defeat potential.

“You can change your internal dialogue,” Purkey says.

 “The idea is to give children permission to monitor their own whispering self,” he continues. "By bringing what you say to yourself about yourself to a higher level of awareness, you're more likely  to recognize and change faulty, illogical thinking."

Written primarily for teachers, the book is equally important for parents or anyone intereted in the well-being of children. It applies psychological self concept theory to classroom practice and includes examples of both positive and negative self-beliefs.

 Words such as “I can’t …”  or “I never …” or excessive worry – “catastrophizing,” as Purkey calls it – are examples of negative thinking, he says.

“The major thrust is to get rid of half-truths, innuendoes and lies that we build up about ourselves, and the way we cling to these myths the way a drowning person grasps at straws,” he  says. “We all do it, and it’s just nonsense. In this way we become our own worst enemies. We cheer our own defeats.” A negative self-image also has implications for violence in schools and self-destructive behavior by students, he said.

Purkey brings the message home for parents too. His section on  “How Internal Dialogue Develops,” discusses “The Enhancing Home Environment” and provides examples of how children develop positive or negative self-concepts from an early age.

Purkey said his feelings on the subject can be summed up in one sentence from this section:  “The source of the whispering self is whatever is available in the environment – opulence or squalor, acceptance or rejection, beauty or ugliness, love or hate, rainbows or gutter water.”

“What Students Say to Themselves” intersperses research findings with cartoons and concrete examples from personal experiences and everyday classrooms, thus making for a insightful but engaging read. The tone throughout conveys Purkey’s own optimism and passion for helping others achieve their full potential.

Teaching is “an imaginative act of hope,” Purkey writes. “The task of teachers is to maintain the wellspring of hope, which is caring for oneself. This involves defining themselves in positive and realistic ways and caring for themselves …” he writes.
Some of his strategies include:

• Viewing students as able. – “Students exist not only in their own worlds, but also as mental images in the minds of teachers,” he writes. “Perhaps the most important thing that teachers do is what they do in their minds.” In short, students will live up (or down) to the teachers expectations.
• Viewing students as valuable – This is particularly important when working with students identified as disadvantaged, Purkey writes.
• Viewing students as responsible. -- ”By holding students equally responsible for what happens in the classroom, the teacher demonstrates respect for their self-directing abilities.”
• Viewing the subject matter as valuable – The best teachers are those who believe that what they teach is important, Purkey says. “Teachers whose internal dialogue attests to the worthiness of their subjects are most likely to have their passion shared by students,” he writes.

Purkey, a prolific writer and frequent lecturer, will present the distinguished Hixson Lecture at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Feb. 24. The title of his talk is “The Whispering Self,” which will focus on the concepts in his latest book.

Purkey is cofounder of the International Alliance for Invitational Education, which now boasts more than 1,000 members in 13 countries since its inception in 1982. The four principles of the practice are respect, trust, optimism and intentionality.

A member of the UNCG faculty since 1976, Purkey is recipient of the 1997 Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has written or cowritten more than 80 professional articles and nine books, including “Inviting School Success,” now in its third edition. Purkey received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Virginia. ###

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