Activity 8.1 - Problems with the Invitational model

When Yen Ho was about to take up his duties as tutor to the heir of Ling, Duke of Wei, he went to Ch’u Po Yu for advice. “I have to deal with a man of depraved and murderous disposition … How is one to deal with a man of this sort?”

“I’m glad”, said Ch’u Po Yu, “that you asked this question… The first thing you must do is not to improve him, but to improve yourself.”

Taoist Story of Ancient China

Bennis and Naus, (1985) in Purkey, W. (1992) Conflict resolution: An invitational approach. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 1(2). 111-116

Read the quote above and, thinking about what you know of invitational theory, answer the following questions. Record your thoughts in your blog.

  1. How does this story fit with this theory?

  2. What are some of the issues that this story might highlight for the invitational model?

  3. What is you opinion of this quote from Purkey (1992)?

    “One criticism of Invitational Theory (Purkey and Novak, 1984; Purkey and Schmidt, 1987; Purkey and Stanley, 1991) is that it does not address itself to difficult situations.  It is easy to be inviting when things are going well, say critics, but in times of conflict it’s time to get tough: to forget inviting and start demanding.  This article refutes the criticisms by first reviewing the basic assumptions of Invitational Theory and then explaining how the theory can be used to handle conflicts, both minor and major, that occur in one’s personal and professional life.”

Read the following question and respond by posting to the padlet.

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How do you think Invitational Theory might address the problem of conflict and difficult situations?

  • Brainstorm some of your ideas using the Padlet below. If you like you can brainstorm questions you have about how this could happen, or the problems you think there are with the theory.