# Summary Statement of the ANISA Model

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Daniel C. Jordan, Summary Statement of the ANISA Model, bahai-library.com.
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> A SUMMARY STATEMENT ON THE ANISA MODEL
> Dan Jordan
> 
> The Anisa Model represents a comprehensive educational system functionally defined by
> specifications which insure its replicability, evaluation, and refinement. The specifications set forth
> educational objectives pertaining to the actualization of human potential and explanations of how to
> achieve them. These objectives and explanations are derived from a coherent body of theory that has
> been deductively generated from a philosophical base and inductively validated to whatever extent
> possible by findings from empirical research.
> The Philosophy Underlying the Model:
> Defines man as a spiritual as well as a material being;
> Explains his reality in terms of the process of his becoming (actualization of potentiality) and
> recognizes that the concept of process presupposes both creativity and potentiality;
> Proposes that, because of man's ability to create further potential (a form of transcendence)
> through the cumulative effects of learning and culture (a reflection of immanence), his
> potentiality be regarded as infinite;
> Derives the explanation of the process of becoming from a general ontological principle of
> relativity (i.e., man’s relatedness to all other entities in the universe and the impossibility of
> understanding any being apart from the circumstances in which it becomes);
> Accepts the principle of hierarchical structuring as primary expression of order and beauty
> in the universe;
> Defines the basic order of the universe in terms of different hierarchically arranged
> ontological levels and places man at the apex of all living creatures;
> Conceives of order as dynamic in nature (i.e., novelty perpetually emerges from new
> integration of prior entities) and upholds the thesis that man escapes the limitations of mere
> materiality by virtue of his ability to direct the process of his own becoming — patterning the
> use of energy available to him. — by consciously entertaining the infinite range of
> possibilities (potentialities) open to him;
> Identifies the process of becoming with an intrinsic pressure to know and to love which
> impels conscious speculation about, and attraction to, unknowns and ultimate unknowables
> (in themselves forms of potentialities) and man's relationship to them;
> Defines man's spirituality as the conscious capacity (1) to formulate and/or respond to non-
> actual realities (ideals, aims, purposes, theories) as a consequence of such speculation and
> attraction, (2) to accept them (ideals or theories) as substitutes for or manifestations of the
> unknowns/unknowables, and (3) to give them symbolic expression which helps to guide or
> give direction to the translation of potentiality into actuality, thereby facilitating their
> functioning as final cause;
> Accepts the realization of beauty as the teleology of the universe and equates the self-
> actualization of potentiality in service of beauty (knowing and loving the ultimate unknowns
> underlying the ordering of the universe) as the highest expression of that teleology.
> The body of theory derived from the philosophy includes theories of development,
> curriculum, pedagogy, administration, and evaluation, each of which is briefly outlined
> below.
> The Theory of Development:
> Defines development as the translation of potentiality into actuality and equates that
> translation with creativity;
> Describes the nature of human potential and recognizes the impossibility of establishing its
> finitude;
> Establishes two broad categories of potentialities — biological and psychological;
> Identifies proper nutrition as the essential element in the development of biological
> potentialities and learning as the key factor in the release of psychological potentialities;
> Affirms the importance of early experience in shaping subsequent developmental
> phenomena and enunciates the hueristic value of the concepts of critical or sensitive
> periods, stages and sequences;
> Stresses the importance of learning how to learn (learning competence) as the ultimate
> source of independence and confidence;
> Defines learning competence as the conscious ability to differentiate aspects of experience,
> integrate them into novel patterns, and generalize them to other situations and sets forth the
> proposition that differentiation, integration and generalization constitute a trio of interrelated
> processes that defines a developmental unit of change — a stage, (sequences of stages
> being the primary means by which increasing complexity of function and structure is built up
> and integrated through hierarchical organization);
> Establishes five categories of psychological potentialities—psycho-motor, perceptual,
> cognitive, affective, and volitional;
> Confirms interaction with the environment as the means by which development is sustained;
> Accounts for the importance of the perpetual introduction of some novelty into the
> environment as a primary means of creating disequilibrium (or disparity) between
> developmental level and experience thereby compelling new patterns of interaction which in
> turn facilitates the actualization of psychological potentialities;
> Categorizes interactions in terms of their power to facilitate the development of learning
> competence and the maintenance of biological integrity;
> Fixes three basic categories of environment (physical, human, and the unknown) consistent
> with the ontological levels outlined in the philosophy and establishes the Self (personal
> identity) as the micro-cosmic reflection of the three environments and the most constant part
> of the environment it experiences;
> Explains the emergence of personal identify (character development) in terms of value
> formation and defines values as the relatively enduring structurings of actualized
> potentialities (patterned uses of energy available to the organism);
> Explains how information about the environments, held as beliefs, affects the structuring;
> Identifies developmental universals which provide a framework for the planning and
> implementation of educational programs cross culturally;
> Identifies three value sub-systems (material, social, and religious/aesthetic) each of which is
> associated with a category of the three basic environments;
> Explains three analogous higher-order competencies (technological, moral and
> spiritual/philosophical) which rest on the value sub-subsystems;
> Defines the structural and functional reality of personal identity—the Self—as the three
> value systems combined into an integrated totality on which depends the personal
> effectance of the self—'self-competence', analogously defined as the combination of the
> higher-order competencies;
> Explicates the relationship between culture and personality formation, particularly as it is
> transmitted by parents and the family;
> Provides a general scheme for understanding the nature of pathology and its etiology (both
> biological and psychological), sets forth the conditions for the prevention of mental illness,
> character disorders, delinquency, and criminality, and is generative of testable propositions
> concerning therapy and rehabilitation.
> The Theory of Curriculum:
> Defines curriculum in terms of educational goals and what children do (with or without the
> assistance of teachers) to achieve them;
> Fixes the overarching goal of education as the actualization of human potentialities and their
> structuring into identity around those ideals which guarantee survival and perpetually
> improve its quality;
> Differentiates the main goal into process goals and content goals;
> Identifies two categories of process goals: (1) development of biological potentialities
> (facilitation of normal maturational processes) and (2) actualization of psychological
> potentialities (psycho-motor, perceptual, cognitive, affective and volitional);
> Specifies two categories of content goals analogous to the process goals: (1) requisites for
> physical health (proper nutrition, pure water, clean air, sunlight, optimum temperature, etc.)
> and (2) information about the world in which we live organized around the categories of the
> three basic environments (e.g., physical/botanical/zoological/anthropological, and
> theological/philosophical, facts and/or beliefs and their applied counterparts, e.g., electronic
> engineering, agriculture, medicine, etc.) and information about the Self as an integrated
> microcosmic reflection of the other three environments;
> Emphasizes the need for and means whereby process may be used to reduce error in the
> information (content) assimilated and how accumulated content may be applied to render
> process more efficient;
> Accounts for the kinds of interactions a child must have with the different environments in
> order to achieve the process and content goals which results in an integrated Self
> characterized by values (patterned uses of energy-actualized potential) and related
> competencies that not only guarantee the continual release of potentialities but also improve
> the quality of survival;
> Identifies three basic symbol systems which help to mediate or facilitate interaction with the
> three different basic environments and give direction to the structuring of actualizing
> potentiality: mathematics and symbolic logic, language (speech, reading, writing), the arts;
> Indicates the role of evaluation in relating the degree of goal achievement to particular
> interactions prescribed, encouraged or permitted.
> The Theory of Pedagogy:
> Defines teaching as arranging environments and guiding the child's interaction with them for
> the purpose of achieving the educational objectives specified by the curriculum;
> Views educational facilities as a particular case of arranging an environment and
> establishes the process by which specifications for facilities are derived from the total body
> of Anisa Theory;
> Affirms the necessity of individualizing instruction and provides the means for doing so by
> (1) establishing diagnostic and speculative methods for ascertaining the child's
> developmental status and (2) setting forth related prescriptive and experimental approaches
> to arranging environments and guiding interaction so that the experience provided
> "matches" the developmental status of the child on any given dimension pertinent to any
> particular educational objective specified by the curriculum;
> Defines the "match" as optimal disparity (appropriate novelty) between internal schemata
> (structures whose functioning reflects developmental status and the activity or learning
> experience to be engaged in;
> Explains the improvisational nature of teaching (arranging environments and guiding the
> child's interactions with them) in terms of the ability to apply theory in any situation at any
> time for the purpose of achieving curriculum goals;
> Designates the planned introduction of appropriate novelty at an optimal rate for each child
> as an essential obligation of sound pedagogy;
> Identifies curiosity as the primary manifestation of the tension inherent in optimal disparity
> and regards it as one important source of intrinsic motivation to be fostered by teachers;
> Acknowledges that much of the behavior of the human organism is modified in directions
> related to the consequences or anticipated consequences of its actions evaluated in terms
> of its subjective aim (thereby accounting for the phenomenon of "conditioning" within the
> broader context of organismic (philosophy);
> Exploits the pedagogical advantages to be gained by treating those consequences as cases
> of arranging environments and/or guiding interaction;
> Stresses the importance of providing evaluative feedback of an explanatory nature on
> performance at the time of performance;
> Suggests a grading and record-keeping system consistent with the achievement of
> curriculum objectives;
> Recognizes the powerful influence of the teacher as model, a proposition from which criteria
> for the selection of teachers, for determining the effectiveness of their preparation, and for
> their certification are derived;
> Makes provision: (1) for the coordination of staffing patterns and teaching activities
> (including parental involvement) so that children have several adults who know them well to
> assist them at any one time, (2) for continuity of experience with several adult teachers over
> a three or four-year period of time, and (3) for more experienced children to teach less
> experienced children throughout the system, thereby exploiting the axiom that teaching
> consolidates learning.
> The Theory of Administration:
> Defines administration in. terms of service qualified by the purposes and goals of the group
> or educational institution as specified in the theory of curriculum—a service that explicitly
> calls for administrators to have extensive knowledge about the goals and how they are to be
> achieved so that they can be both helpful and credible (and therefore not an embarrassment
> as models);
> Identifies two basic functions of administration which must remain in dynamic equilibrium:
> leadership and management—the former arising from dealing with the present in terms of
> future possibilities (an expression of transcendence) and the latter having roots in
> negotiating the present by organising and coordinating the resources represented by past
> achievements, accumulated knowledge, and expertise (immanence as the heritage of the
> past);
> Explicates the necessity for leadership and management to collaborate in the establishment
> of priorities, assessing needs, identifying resources, determining feasibility, and allocating
> resources to achieve objectives as efficiently as possible;
> Provides the rationale for defining tasks to be achieved by the educational institution so that
> personnel may be recruited on a rational basis and the staff can be differentiated (matching
> talents, interests, abilities and skills with institutional needs) and integrated around purpose;
> Explains how differentiation and integration of the staff around purpose functions as the
> primary means of releasing the institution's potentialities as a social organism;
> Recognizes the unifying advantages of hierarchical administrative structures while guarding
> against their potential rigidities by establishing consultation as an indispensable procedure
> through which arbitrariness is removed from decision-making power by distributing it
> throughout the system at loci of authority legitimatized by expertise and knowledge;
> Stresses the importance of information dissemination both horizontally and vertically and
> relates the rate of information flow to efficiency and morale;
> Affirms the necessity for direct feedback on performance and endorses a circumscribed
> counseling function as an important element in performance evaluation;
> Emphasizes the rational basis for institutional self-renewal by making the results of research
> and evaluation mandatory input to the decision-making process at any given level;
> Affirms the importance of morale and defines it as: a pervasive willingness to comply with
> reasonable policy, to work cooperatively and make sacrifices when the system is under
> stress; a wide-spread conviction that everyone's energy is constructively utilized in the
> achievement of the shared purposes and ideals of the system—purposes and ideals which
> themselves relate to the perpetual release of the potentialities of the group as a social
> organism and which generate a climate of hope and opportunity for growth; satisfaction with
> the compensation received for efforts made; a sense of security that derives from trust that
> confidences will not be broken or injustices committed; and, a sense of unity and belonging
> that derives from the acknowledgement and appreciation of contributions made;
> Reflects the ontological principle of relativity in its emphasis on the participation of
> community and home so that the children are rescued from the fragmenting discontinuities
> and conflicting loyalties that impair the release of their potentialities;
> The Theory of Evaluation:
> Defines evaluation in terms of the purpose of the activity or program being evaluated;
> Seeks to relate means to ends, distinguishing efficient from final causes;
> Conceptualizes evaluation as an on-going process which examines every aspect of
> program operation (including process and product or impact) and provides immediate
> feedback for its timely modification, including modification of the evaluation scheme itself;
> Recognizes that data collected rarely speak for themselves, but require interpretation which
> takes into account (1) the probable accuracy and weight or significance of data as
> determined by the type of data, their source and the time and means of collection, and (2)
> the purpose for which the data and their interpretation is to be used (i.e., question of
> relevance);
> Stresses the value of longitudinal studies and cautions against the ready acceptance of
> short-term effects as proof of significant impact;
> Designates comparative analysis of children's interactions with particular environments and
> their developmental consequences as the focal point of inquiry;
> Affirms the indispensability of recognizing internal states of the organism (such as subjective
> aim, intentions, or memory) as causal influences on behavior;
> Admits the ineffability of many vital aspects of human experience (thereby avoiding possible
> inadvertent biases preceding from an unrecognized assumption that whatever is not
> measurable is not important);
> Allies the purpose of evaluation with the heuristic, explanatory, and predictive functions of
> research and science;
> Employs evaluation results as an important stimulus to the re-examination and refinement of
> the philosophy underlying the model and the body of theory on which its operationalization
> depends.
> 
> Citation: Jordan, D. (1974). A summary statement of the ANISA model. Cambridge, MA: ANISA.
>
> — *Summary Statement of the ANISA Model (Used by permission of the curator)*