An Intentionally Inviting Clinical Mentoring Protocol for the Teacher Candidate Supervisory Triad

Often clinical student teachers are assigned to work with small groups comprised of the least proficient or most behaviorally challenged classroom students.  Given this, it is crucial for university supervisors of teacher preparation programs to utilize an intentionally inviting approach (Purkey, Novak, & Fretz, 2000; Anderson, 2021) to encourage cooperating teachers to mentor for best practices that utilize universal design for learning approaches rather than an immersion approach to class management. For teacher preparation programs, it is important to reframe its clinical placement experience from ‘the teacher candidate learns to manage difficult groups’ to ‘the teacher candidate and the cooperating teacher learns to design conditions in which those diverse students can successfully participate.’

That shift in perspective fits particularly well with Invitational Education (IE) because the university supervisor's role becomes one of intentionally inviting the cooperating teacher into a different way of seeing both the students and the clinical teacher candidate. Invitational Education describes an intentionally inviting stance through intentionality, care, optimism, respect, and trust (I-CORT) and applies that mindset not only to people but also to places, policies, programs, and processes (5Ps). Universal Design for Learning  UDL principles similarly begin with the premise that learner variability is predictable and intentionally inclusive educators should proactively reduce barriers through multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression, rather than waiting for students to fail and then being reactive.

The following protocol is designed for use as a cooperating-teacher mentoring tool during clinical teacher candidate practice. It integrates the I-CORT assumptions of Invitational Education with UDL and proactive classroom management.  Utilization of this protocol can ideally help intentionally mentor clinical teacher candidates toward inclusive, proactive, and evidence-based teaching. When clinical teacher candidates work with small groups of students who have experienced academic difficulty or behavioral challenges, the goal is not simply provide an opportunity for the teacher candidates to experience how to manage the most diverse learners. The goal is to help teacher candidates learn to identify barriers, design accessible learning experiences, build relationships, and use data-based evidence to improve instruction.

This suggested protocol and any of the provided forms herein can be usable during an actual pre-conference/post-conference, rather than simply treating a previous protocol as a checklist. The three-column approach can clarify what each member of the clinical partnership is responsible for doing. Explicitly connecting the form to InTASC Standards 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 is important because they collectively capture learner variability, learning environment, assessment, planning, instructional strategies, reflection, and collaboration. The UDL component reflects the current CAST UDL Guidelines 3.0, which emphasizes learner agency, belonging, anticipating barriers, multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression.

An Intentionally Inviting Clinical Mentoring Protocol

A Guide for Cooperating Teachers for Developing Day One Ready Teacher Candidates

Purpose:
Use this protocol to intentionally mentor clinical teacher candidates toward inclusive, proactive, and evidence-based teaching. When clinical candidates work with small groups of students who have experienced academic difficulty or behavioral challenges, the goal is not simply for the teacher candidate to manage these students. The goal is to help teacher candidates learn to identify barriers, design accessible learning experiences, build relationships, and use evidence to improve instruction.

Using an INVITE Cycle:

I — Investigate the Learner

Invite with CARE. Before identifying a problem, help the teacher candidate understand the learner. Ask:

• What are this student's strengths, interests, prior knowledge, and successful experiences?
• What conditions help this student engage and learn?
• What relationships or experiences might influence participation?

Mentor’s intention: Model language that describes students by their strengths and learning needs rather than by deficits or labels.

 

N — Name the Barrier

Invite with RESPECT. Move from “What's wrong with the student?” to “What barrier is interfering with learning?” Ask:

• Is the barrier related to the task, directions, materials, environment, pacing, relationships, or expectations?
• What evidence do we have?
• Is the student unable to do the task—or unable to access the way the task is currently designed?

Mentor’s intention: Help the teacher candidate distinguish between student behavior and student access to learning.

 

V — Vary the Design

Invite with INTENTIONALITY. Encourage the teacher candidate to proactively apply Universal Design for Learning principles. Consider Multiple Means of:

• Engagement: How can we increase relevance, choice, collaboration, or motivation?
• Representation: How can information be presented in multiple accessible ways?
• Action & Expression: How can students demonstrate understanding in different ways?
• Environment: What can we change about routines, space, time, materials, or transitions?

Mentor’s intention: Ask the teacher candidate, “What can we change in the design before we change the expectation?”

 

I — Invite Participation

Invite with TRUST. Create opportunities for ALL learners to experience competence, agency, belonging, and responsibility. Ask:

• What meaningful choice can the student make?
• How can each student contribute to the group?
• How can we communicate that we believe each student can succeed?
• What support can we gradually remove as independence increases?

Mentor’s intention: Model for the teacher candidate high expectations with appropriate supports rather than lowering expectations because a learner has previously struggled.

 

T — Track Evidence

Invite with OPTIMIS. Help the teacher candidate determine whether the instructional change made a difference. Look for data-based evidence of:

• increased engagement;
• time on task;
• participation;
• understanding;
• independence;
• quality of student work;
• improved interactions.

Ask:

“What did the student do differently when we changed the learning design?”

Mentor’s intention: Celebrate evidence of growth with the teacher candidate AND learners.  Use unsuccessful attempts as information for the next instructional decision.

 

E — Evaluate & Refine

Invite with further INTENTIONALITY. After the lesson, engage in a brief reflective conversation.  Ask:

What worked?
What did the evidence tell us?
What barrier(s) remain?
What will we intentionally change next?

Use the Action Research cycle:

Observe → Hypothesize → Design → Implement → Collect Evidence → Reflect → Revise

 

Cooperating Teacher Commitments

As a cooperating teacher, I will:

☐ Model care, respect, trust, optimism, and intentionality in my interactions with students and the clinical teacher.

☐ Avoid defining students primarily by academic or behavioral deficits.

☐ Mentor the clinical teacher to design for learner variability before relying on corrective management strategies.

☐ Make my instructional decision-making visible through a think-aloud and reflective conversations.

☐ Provide the clinical teacher opportunities to plan, implement, assess, and revise UDL-informed instruction.

☐ Treat challenging teaching situations as professional learning opportunities, not simply problems to be controlled.

☐ Use evidence of student learning and engagement to guide feedback.

 

The Key Mentoring Question: What can we intentionally design through relationships, instruction, environment, and assessment to invite this learner into successful participation?

Clinical Goal: From managing the ‘difficult group’ to designing conditions whereby every learner can participate, belong, and succeed.

 

TRIAD: Cooperating Teacher > Clinical Teacher > University Supervisor

Preparing Day One Ready Teachers Through Invitational Education and UDL Principles

Purpose: To intentionally develop clinical teacher candidates who respond to learner variability by designing inclusive learning environments, anticipating barriers, using evidence, and building relationships characterized by Intentionality, Care, Optimism, Respect, and Trust (-ICORT).

Clinical Focus or Student Group: ___________________________________________

Date: _______________ Lesson/Content: ________________________________

THE INVITE CYCLE

COOPERATING TEACHER	CLINICAL TEACHER CANDIDATE	UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR
I — INVESTIGATE THE LEARNER (CARE) Share strengths, interests, prior knowledge, successful experiences, and conditions that support engagement. Avoid deficit labels. InTASC 1, 2, 3	Identify learner strengths and variability before planning. Ask: What does this learner already know, do, value, and need? Day One Ready: Knows learners and builds relationships.	Ask: What evidence demonstrates that the candidate understands the learner beyond academic/behavioral labels? Look for: asset-based language, knowledge of learner variability, relationship building.
N — NAME THE BARRIER (RESPECT) Help distinguish a learner difficulty from a barrier created by the task, environment, materials, pacing, directions, or interaction. InTASC 2, 3	Analyze the learning barrier before assuming noncompliance. Ask: What might be getting in the way of access, engagement, or participation? Day One Ready: Anticipates learner needs.	Coach the candidate to examine the instructional/environmental context before defaulting to behavior correction. Look for: evidence-based problem identification.
V — VARY THE DESIGN (INTENTIONALITY) Model proactive UDL planning rather than relying first on remediation or immersion in behavior management. InTASC 2, 3, 7, 8	Design multiple means of Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression while maintaining meaningful learning goals. Day One Ready: Plans accessible, differentiated instruction.	Ask: What barrier can we remove through instructional design? Look for: choice, scaffolds, multiple representations, flexible response options, appropriate challenge/support.
I — INVITE PARTICIPATION (TRUST) Create opportunities for students to experience competence, belonging, agency, and responsibility. InTASC 3, 8	Establish clear expectations while providing meaningful opportunities for student voice, choice, collaboration, and successful participation. Day One Ready: Creates a positive learning environment.	Observe whether management preserves student dignity and access to learning. Look for: proactive routines, positive interactions, engagement, student agency—not simply compliance.
T — TRACK EVIDENCE (OPTIMISM) Help identify observable evidence of engagement, learning, independence, and progress. InTASC 6	Collect formative evidence: What did students do, say, produce, or demonstrate? Use evidence to determine whether the design worked. Day One Ready: Uses formative assessment to adjust instruction.	Ask: What evidence supports your conclusion? Distinguish perception from observable evidence. Look for: purposeful formative assessment and responsive decision-making.
E — EVALUATE & REFINE (INTENTIONALITY) Engage the candidate in reflective problem solving rather than simply providing corrective advice. InTASC 6, 7, 9, 10	Reflect: What worked? What barrier remains? What will I change next? Why? Day One Ready: Reflects, responds to evidence, and seeks improvement.	Facilitate a reflective coaching conversation. Identify one evidence-based next step and connect it to professional standards. Look for: reflection, responsiveness, collaboration, professional growth.

UDL Principles and Invitational Education LOOK-FORS:

Before correcting behavior, ask:

☐ Engagement: Is the learner interested, connected, appropriately challenged, and supported?

☐ Representation: Does the learner have an accessible way to understand the information and expectations?

☐ Action & Expression: Does the learner have an appropriate way to participate and demonstrate understanding?

☐ Environment: Are routines, transitions, materials, time, and expectations predictable?

☐ Relationships: Does the learner experience care, trust, respect, and optimism?

☐ Evidence: What observable student behavior or learning tells us whether the instructional change worked?

CAST describes UDL as proactively addressing predictable learner variability through engagement, representation, and action/expression; UDL 3.0 Guidelines also emphasize belonging, agency, anticipating challenges, and challenging exclusionary practices.

 

‘DAY ONE READY’ CLINICAL INDICATORS

The ‘Day One Ready’ clinical teacher candidate proficiently…

KNOWS by identifying learner strengths, needs, interests, and variability.
DESIGNS by anticipating barriers and plan accessible, appropriately challenging instruction.
INVITES by establishing relationships and environments characterized by care, respect, trust, and optimism.
ENGAGES through proactive strategies that increase meaningful student participation.
ASSESSES by gathering formative evidence of learning and engagement.
RESPONDS by adjusting instruction based on evidence rather than relying primarily on reactive management.
REFLECTS by explaining instructional decisions and identifying specific next steps.
COLLABORATES by seeking, receiving, and applying feedback from cooperating teachers and supervisors.

InTASC Alignment: 1 Learner Development • 2 Learning Differences • 3 Learning Environments • 6 Assessment • 7 Planning for Instruction • 8 Instructional Strategies • 9 Professional Learning & Ethical Practice • 10 Leadership & Collaboration.

CLINICAL PARTNERSHIP REFLECTION ACTIVITY:

Evidence of student growth/engagement:

Barrier identified:

UDL/invitational strategy attempted:

What did the evidence tell us?

Next intentional instructional step:

 

Clinical Teacher: ________________________
Cooperating Teacher: ____________________
University Supervisor: ____________________

A Guiding Question:
“What can we intentionally design through relationships, instruction, environment, and assessment to invite this learner into successful participation?”

The intent is to encourage an essential shift in one's inclusive mindset and pedagogical approach. Every university supervisor is invited to explicitly mentor cooperating teachers toward this progression:

Traditional/Immersion Approach	Intentionally Inviting + UDL Approach
“These are my lowest students.”	“These learners bring variability that we need to understand.”
“They need more behavior management.”	“What barriers are producing disengagement?”
“Keep them quiet and on task.”	“Design meaningful ways for them to engage and participate.”
“Give them easier work.”	“Maintain the learning goal while varying access and support.”
“The student teacher needs to learn classroom control.”	“The student teacher needs to learn proactive instructional design.”
“Pull them aside when they misbehave.”	“Anticipate barriers before behavior escalates.”
“Manage the group.”	“Design the environment, instruction, and relationships.”

 

The important distinction is that UDL principles are neither permissiveness nor are they a substitute for effective classroom management. Rather, planning with UDL principles and 3.0 guidelines move some of the management problem upstream by asking:

What can we change in the design of the learning experience so that fewer students encounter unnecessary barriers to engagement?

CAST's current UDL 3.0 framework explicitly includes anticipating challenges, optimizing challenge and support, fostering belonging and collaboration, and providing action-oriented feedback.

Use the university supervisor>cooperating teacher conference as an “invitation”

Rather than starting a supervisory conversation with: “How are you going to get these students to behave?…”  the supervisor might instead intentionally invite the cooperating teacher to examine the situation differently:

“What might these students be telling us about the design of the learning environment?”

That is a very different university supervisory stance. Continuing, the supervisor could use five questions corresponding to IE’s I-CORT stance:

Intentionality: “What are we deliberately designing differently tomorrow?” This converts the conversation from philosophy into an instructional experiment.

Care: “What do we know about these students as learners, not simply as behavior problems?” Ask the cooperating teacher and student teacher to identify:

• interests and strengths;
• prior knowledge;
• successful learning experiences;
• relationships and peer connections;
• conditions under which the student participates successfully.

This prevents the clinical teacher candidate from beginning with a deficit description.

Optimism: “What evidence suggests these students can be successful?” The goal is to prevent the clinical teacher candidate from internalizing the belief that “This is the group nobody can teach.” Instead, the cooperating teacher models the professional belief that instructional success is possible and therefore worth designing, planning, and implementing.

Respect: “Are we interpreting student behavior as communication or simply as noncompliance?” This is particularly important when students are routinely placed in a separate small group because they are perceived as the “least proficient” or “most challenging.” A respectful interpretation asks: What is the student trying to accomplish, avoid, communicate, or access? That question can lead directly to UDL planning.

Trust: “What responsibility can we give the student teacher for designing and trying an instructional response?” Rather than telling the teacher candidate exactly how to control the group, the cooperating teacher becomes a mentor who essentially conveys: “I trust you to study this problem, design an intervention, try it, and learn from the results.” That creates a much more authentic clinical-learning experience.

Make UDL 3.0 Guidelines the mentoring language for classroom management

A particularly powerful move for teacher preparation programs would be to connect UDL principles and 3.0 guidelines directly to the program's expectations for classroom management, rather than treating them as separate competencies.

For example:

Before responding to a behavior problem, the teacher candidate learns to ask about:

1. Engagement: Was the learner interested, connected, appropriately challenged, and supported?
2. Representation: Did the learner have an accessible way to understand what was expected?
3. Action & Expression: Did the learner have an appropriate way to participate or demonstrate understanding?
4. Environment: Were transitions, materials, space, time, and routines predictable?
5. Relationship: Did the learner experience the teacher as caring, respectful, and trustworthy?

This is particularly consistent with UDL 3.0 guidelines, which includes optimizing challenge and support, fostering belonging and community, anticipating challenges, and enhancing learners' capacity to monitor progress.

The result reinforces a useful clinical principle: Behavior management should begin with instructional design, not end with behavioral correction.

Invite the cooperating teacher to model ‘design before discipline’

The cooperating teacher could deliberately model a three-step process for the clinical teacher candidate:

Step 1, Identify the barrier: Rather than: “Marcus won't participate.” Model asking:

“What is preventing Marcus from accessing this learning experience?”

Step 2, Change the design:  For example:

• provide visual directions;
• chunk the task;
• provide a model;
• activate prior knowledge;
• offer choice;
• allow verbal, written, visual, or technological responses;
• use peer collaboration;
• adjust the amount of practice without lowering the learning goal;
• provide graduated support.

Step 3, Examine the response:  Invites the teacher candidate to respond to the question, “What changed when we changed the design?”  This makes the student teacher an instructional problem solver, rather than a behavior technician.

Use the small group for inclusive practices rather than as potential remediation

This may be the most important programmatic change. If the clinical teacher candidate is routinely assigned the students with the greatest needs, the supervisor should explicitly establish that the assignment is not an apprenticeship in deficit teaching. Instead, the small group becomes a clinical laboratory for learning how universally designed instruction can increase access, engagement, independence, and academic participation. For example:

Learning objective: Students will identify the main idea and supporting details.

Rather than giving the struggling group a substantially easier assignment, the clinical teacher might maintain the same essential goal while providing:

• an audio version of the text;
• vocabulary supports;
• visual representation of the concept;
• highlighted critical information;
• teacher modeling;
• partner discussion;
• graphic organization;
• choice of oral, written, or visual response.

That is consistent with UDL's emphasis on maintaining meaningful, challenging learning opportunities while reducing barriers to participation.

Provide cooperating teachers the “intentionally inviting mentoring protocol”

A teacher preparation program could formalize this into a short protocol to be used during the TRIAD conferences.

An INVITE Protocol

I — Investigate the learner: What strengths, interests, knowledge, relationships, and successful experiences does the learner bring?

N — Name the barrier: What specifically is preventing access, engagement, or participation?

V — Vary the design: What can we change in engagement, representation, action/expression, environment, or support?

I — Invite participation: How can the teacher provide meaningful choice, agency, responsibility, and belonging?

T — Track evidence: What observable evidence will tell us whether the instructional change worked?

E — Evaluate and refine: What should the clinical teacher keep, change, or try next?

This protocol provides the cooperating teacher (CT) something concrete to do relative to Invitational Education rather than simply expecting the teacher candidate and the CT to ‘be more inviting.'

Change the expectations for what university supervisors observe

There is an important implication for the clinical observation instrument. The clinical teacher candidate receives a powerful implicit message that Good teaching = Controlling students whenever the university supervisor primarily scores an observation based upon:

• student compliance,
• transitions,
• teacher authority,
• noise level,
• redirection,
• pacing,

Instead, supervisory observation should also capture proactive instructional design, which is especially compatible with UDL 3.0’s explicit emphasis on learner agency, meaningful goals, anticipating challenges, and challenging exclusionary practices.  For example:

Supervisory Look-Fors	Evidence
Invitational stance	Teacher communicates care, respect, trust, optimism
Engagement	Students have meaningful purpose, relevance, choice, or collaboration
Representation	Important information is accessible in multiple ways
Action/Expression	Students have meaningful ways to participate and demonstrate learning
Anticipation	Teacher identifies and addresses likely barriers before escalation
Agency	Students increasingly monitor, choose, and regulate aspects of their learning
Responsive management	Teacher responds to behavior while preserving dignity and instructional access
Reflection	Teacher uses student evidence to modify instruction

 

In summary, a ‘Day One Ready’ teacher candidate does not merely respond effectively to student behavior. Rather, the highly proficient the teacher candidate is capable of anticipating learner variability and intentionally designing instruction based on diverse relationships, routines, and environments that optimize learners' opportunities to engage and succeed. Therefore, that ideal brings together: Invitational Education + UDL + formative assessment + proactive classroom management.

The ideal also prevents the false dichotomy between “management” and “inclusive instruction.” The best classroom managers are often doing considerable management through instructional design. While Invitational Education (Purkey and Novak (2015) provides the relational and ethical stance while UDL provides the instructional design framework, formative assessment provides the evidence, and classroom management provides the responsive structures necessary to maintain a productive learning environment.

That combination would allow a university supervisor to say to the cooperating teacher, ‘We aren't asking you to give the clinical teacher candidate an easier group to manage. We're asking you to mentor the clinical teacher candidate in how to design learning so that students who have historically experienced failure, exclusion, or disengagement have greater access to success.’ That is a considerably more ambitious and defensible purpose for the clinical placement.

 

To cite:

Anderson, C.J. (August 31 2026). An intentionally inviting clinical mentoring protocol for the teacher candidate supervisory triad. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.ucan-cja.blogspot.com/

 

References:

Anderson, C. J. (2021). Developing your students' emotional intelligence and philosophical  perspective begins with I-CORT. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 27, 36-50.

 CAST. (2024). CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. CAST UDL Guidelines 3.0

Purkey, W. W., & Novak, J. M. (2015). Fundamentals of invitational education. (2^nd Ed) International Alliance for Invitational Education. Retrieved from: Fundamental of Invitational Education | IAIE

 Purkey, W.W., Novak, J.M., & Fretz, J.R. (2020). Developing inviting schools: A beneficial framework for teaching. Teachers College Press.

In Conjunction with the Wooden Pyramid of Success, I-CORT can Optimize a Coaching Staff’s Effectiveness

 Integrating Invitational Education theory and practice (IE) with John Wooden's Pyramid of Success creates a coaching philosophy that emphasizes not only what athletes achieve but also how coaches cultivate the conditions for human growth. While the Pyramid identifies the character traits and habits that lead to success, the I-CORT framework from Invitational Education provides the relational climate that enables those traits to develop.

Rather than functioning as competing models, the two frameworks are complementary:

• The Wooden Pyramid of Success describes the developmental outcomes of successful individuals.
• I-CORT describes the environmental conditions that invite those outcomes.

The Wooden Pyramid of Success provides Coach John Wooden’s framework for how people can achieve their highest potential beyond sports but also in work, leadership, relationships, and life. Rather than focusing on winning as the sole goal, Wooden defined success as:

"Peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable."

This definition shifts the goal from outperforming others to maximizing your own capabilities.

The Wooden Pyramid of Success consists of 15 building blocks arranged from the foundation to the summit.

The bottom row is foundation because they represent the habits that support everything else:

• Industriousness:  Consistent, purposeful hard work.
• Friendship:  Mutual respect, trust, and support.
• Loyalty:  Commitment to your values, team, and responsibilities.
• Cooperation:  Working effectively with others.
• Enthusiasm: Genuine enjoyment and energy in your work.

Wooden believed these are indispensable because excellence is difficult to sustain without strong daily habits and healthy relationships.

As the foundation strengthens, more advanced qualities develop through the middle levels:

• Self-Control
• Alertness
• Initiative
• Intentness
• Condition (physical, mental, and moral fitness)
• Skill
• Team Spirit
• Poise
• Confidence

These qualities build on one another. For example, confidence isn't based on wishful thinking. Rather, it comes from preparation, discipline, and repeated execution.

At the summit of Wooden’s Pyramid is Competitive Greatness.  Wooden described this as performing at your very best when the stakes are highest. It is not merely defeating an opponent, but rising to the challenge regardless of circumstances.

Outside the pyramid are several guiding influences or supporting principles.  These include faith and patience. These reinforce that meaningful achievement takes time and belief in the process.

At the apex sits Success, which is earned through the accumulation of the other qualities rather than by chasing it directly.

The following table exhibits another view of how Wooden's philosophy optimizes human potential by emphasizing several enduring principles:

Principle	Meaning
Process over outcomes	Focus on daily improvement rather than external rewards.
Character before achievement	Personal integrity enables lasting success.
Continuous growth	Excellence comes from incremental improvement.
Whole-person development	Mental, physical, emotional, and moral qualities all matter.
Intrinsic motivation	Satisfaction comes from knowing you've done your best.

 

Rather than asking, "How do I win?" Wooden asks, "How do I become the kind of person capable of consistently performing at my best?"

Decades later, the Wooden Pyramid of Success remains influential.  It has been adopted well beyond athletics because it addresses universal aspects of performance.  Business leaders use it to develop resilient, collaborative teams. Educators apply it to cultivate character alongside academic achievement. Athletes use it to focus on preparation instead of results. Individuals use it for personal growth by identifying which building blocks need strengthening.

One way to understand the Pyramid is as a developmental system whereby, from bottom to top: Daily Habits build Strong Character that increases Competence & Confidence that leads to Peak Performance and ultimately, Success (personal fulfillment).  Each level depends on the one below it. Confidence grows from preparation, preparation grows from disciplined habits, and sustained excellence grows from character.

Based on Invitational Education theory and practice, how can applying the five core elements of Intentionality, Care, Optimism, Respect, and Trust (I-CORT) as suggested by Purkey, Novak, and Fretz (2020) and Anderson (2021), optimize a coaching staff’s application of the Wooden Pyramid for Success?

Intentionality brings purpose to every coaching action. Purkey, Novak, and Fretz argue that inviting environments do not emerge accidentally; they are deliberately created through intentional actions. Applied to Wooden's philosophy, intentionality transforms the Pyramid from a motivational poster into a daily coaching framework. For example, a coach intentionally planning practice around Industriousness, Skill, and Condition ensures that every activity reinforces both technical competence and character development. Coaches consistently ask:

• What quality of the Pyramid does this drill develop?
• What message does this interaction send about the athlete's potential?
• How does today's practice contribute to lifelong success?

Intentionality therefore operationalizes Wooden's belief that success is "peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable."

Care builds the relational foundation.  Invitational Education emphasizes that people grow best in environments characterized by genuine care. Wooden similarly believed athletes performed best when they knew their coach cared about them as people first and competitors second. Care encourages athletes to take risks, persist through adversity, and remain engaged during difficult learning experiences. When coaches demonstrate authentic concern through listening, encouragement, and individualized support, foundational Pyramid blocks such as Friendship, Loyalty, and Cooperation become lived experiences rather than abstract ideals.

Optimism cultivates growth-oriented beliefs.  Optimism within Invitational Education reflects the assumption that every individual possesses untapped potential capable of development. This perspective aligns naturally with Wooden's emphasis on continual improvement instead of external comparison. Therefore, an optimistic coaching staff:

• interprets mistakes as information,
• emphasizes progress over perfection,
• communicates confidence in athletes' abilities,
• maintains high expectations coupled with high support.

Such an environment nurtures Confidence, Initiative, and eventually Competitive Greatness, particularly under pressure.

Respect honors human dignity.  Respect represents one of the strongest philosophical connections between Invitational Education and Wooden's educational approach. Respect requires coaches to recognize athletes as persons of inherent worth regardless of performance outcomes. Consequently, discipline becomes instructional rather than punitive, feedback becomes developmental rather than demeaning, and accountability is balanced with empathy. Thus, respect reinforces Wooden's belief that character ultimately outweighs winning.

Trust enables performance under pressure. Trust develops through consistent, reliable, and authentic coaching behaviors. Invitational Education suggests that trusting relationships allow individuals to assume responsibility, take initiative, and fully engage in learning.  Within Wooden’s Pyramid, trust strengthens each of the following:

• Loyalty
• Team Spirit
• Reliability
• Confidence
• Competitive Greatness

When athletes trust coaches, they become more receptive to feedback, communicate honestly, and demonstrate greater resilience during adversity.

One useful conceptualization is to view implementation of an I-CORT mindset as the culture or climate surrounding the Pyramid of Success. Yes, the Wooden Pyramid identifies the virtues and habits athletes should develop. However, exhibiting an I-CORT mindset establishes the psychological, relational, and organizational culture that makes development possible.

In this sense:

• Wooden answers "What qualities produce success?"
• Invitational Education answers "What kind of environment develops those qualities?"

Without exhibiting an I-CORT mindset, coaches may attempt to teach the Pyramid’s values through compliance and control. With I-CORT, those same values emerge through invitation, relationship, and shared responsibility.

Applying I-CORT encourages coaching staffs to move beyond technical instruction toward transformational leadership. Staff members intentionally examine not only athletes' behaviors but also their own interactions, communication patterns, organizational structures, and team culture. This integrated approach encourages coaches to evaluate:

• Are our practices intentionally developing character?
• Do athletes consistently experience care and belonging?
• Does our language communicate optimism?
• Are all athletes treated with respect and dignity?
• Have we earned the trust necessary for meaningful influence?

These reflective questions align closely with Invitational Education's emphasis on creating inviting environments across people, places, policies, programs, and processes while simultaneously advancing Coach Wooden's holistic vision of success.

The following table is another way to understand the complementary relationship:

I-CORT Element	Contribution to the Wooden Pyramid	Coaching Applications
Intentionality	Aligns daily coaching behaviors with the Pyramid's foundational blocks such as Industriousness, Enthusiasm, Self-Control, and Skill.	Design purposeful practices, provide intentional feedback, establish clear expectations, and connect every drill to long-term character and performance goals.
Care	Creates the emotional safety necessary for Friendship, Loyalty, Cooperation, and Team Spirit to flourish.	Demonstrate empathy, know athletes personally, celebrate effort, support individual growth, and respond constructively to mistakes.
Optimism	Reinforces Initiative, Competitive Greatness, Confidence, and Poise by emphasizing growth and possibility rather than limitation.	Frame setbacks as learning opportunities, model positive expectations, encourage resilience, and highlight incremental improvement.
Respect	Supports Alertness, Self-Control, and Integrity by affirming each athlete's inherent worth and dignity.	Listen actively, involve athletes in decision-making, maintain fairness, honor diverse perspectives, and provide corrective feedback without humiliation.
Trust	Serves as the relational foundation for Loyalty, Honesty, Reliability, and ultimately Competitive Greatness.	Follow through on commitments, communicate transparently, maintain consistency, empower athlete leadership, and encourage psychological safety.

 

Integrating Invitational Education's I-CORT framework with John Wooden's Pyramid of Success provides a comprehensive coaching philosophy that unites character development, relational leadership, and performance excellence. The Wooden Pyramid offers the blueprint for personal success, while I-CORT supplies the interpersonal conditions that allow those qualities to flourish. Coaching staffs who intentionally demonstrate care, optimism, respect, and trust create environments in which athletes are invited to pursue excellence with confidence, integrity, and purpose. In this integrated model, success becomes not merely the achievement of competitive goals but the lifelong development of capable, ethical, resilient, and flourishing individuals.

 

 To cite:

Anderson, C.J. (July 30, 2026). In conjunction with the Wooden Pyramid of Success, I-CORT can optimize a coaching staff’s effectiveness. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.ucan-cja.blogspot.com/

 

References

Anderson, C. J. (2021). Developing your students' emotional intelligence and philosophical  perspective begins with I-CORT. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 27, 36-50.

Perez, D., Van Horn, S., & Otten, M. P. (2014). Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success: A comparison to the sport psychology literature. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 9(1), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1260/1747-9541.9.1.85

Purkey, W. W., & Novak, J. M. (2015). Fundamentals of invitational education. (2^nd Ed) International Alliance for Invitational Education. Retrieved from: Fundamental of Invitational Education | IAIE

 Purkey, W.W., Novak, J.M., & Fretz, J.R. (2020). Developing inviting schools: A beneficial framework for teaching. Teachers College Press.

Wooden, J (nd). The Pyramid of Success. https://worksheets.clipart-library.com/images2/printable-version-of-john-wooden-pyramid-of-success/printable-version-of-john-wooden-pyramid-of-success-8.png