Force Field Analysis
The school’s State Report Card has provided significant insights regarding student achievement in my school. Following an analysis of data presented in the school’s State Report Card, reading is an area of instructional need in my classroom. I currently teach Business-related courses at Downingtown HS East Campus, which has experienced an overall high performance of students over the last few years. The Business-related courses that I teach are designed students prepare to compete in competitions like mock trial, DECA, and other business topic competitions. While most of my students have demonstrated significant interest in pursuing a career in the field of business, they have challenges in reading. Due to reading challenges, the biggest problem in my class is that most of the students who take these courses are lower level or average students and struggle with higher level thinking and development of their idea. This paper focuses on examining factors driving the need for improvement in this area of instructional need as well as those preventing such improvement and those within my control. The desired change in this area is for students to demonstrate higher level creative thinking and be able to develop their own ideas.
Force Field Analysis Chart
As previously mentioned, the desired change in this area of instructional need in my classroom is for students to demonstrate higher-level critical thinking and be able to develop their own ideas. This desired change is critical towards improving student achievement and outcomes in my classroom because it will enable them to become active participants in their learning through taking personal initiative. However, there are several factors driving and preventing the desired change in the classroom as shown in the Force Field Analysis chart in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Force Field Analysis ChartAvailability of learning resources
Driving Forces
Students to Develop Higher Learning Creative Thinking and their Own Ideas
Poor Reading Skills
Ineffective teaching styles
Lower-level or average students in the classroom
Lack of collaboration between teachers
Need to Improve Student Achievement
Students’ Interest in Business Careers
Changes in teaching styles
Support by the administration
Restraining Forces
Disruption
As shown in the Force Field Analysis chart, there are various kinds of driving and restraining...
These forces are related to people and processes within the classroom environment and the entire institution. The achievement of this desired state requires capitalizing on the desired forces and addressing the restraining forces. Such efforts would help in creating a suitable learning environment and framework for the achievement of the desired state in my classroom.
The Force Field Analysis chart demonstrates that people factors that act as the driving forces for change in my classroom include students’ interest in business careers, changes in teaching styles, and support by the top management. As previously indicated, most of the students in my classroom have demonstrated significant interest in pursuing a business-related career in the future. The significant interest is demonstrated in various ways, particularly their participation in group discussions and other learning activities. This acts as a significant driving force towards achievement of the desired state in this class. The school’s administration has also provided necessary support to teachers and students to help in achieving this desired state. Additionally, the changes in teaching styles have played a crucial role through increased adoption of student-centered approach in which teaching/learning is customized to fit the individual needs and strengths of the student (Miller, 2013). On the other hand, processes that act as crucial factors for change are availability of learning resources and the need for the school to improve student achievement across all content areas.
However, the people factors that act as restraining forces towards realization of this desired state include the fact that most students are lower-level or average students. This inhibits their ability to develop higher level thinking and their own ideas in relation to their learning processes and activities. The other factors include the lack of collaboration between teachers and poor reading skills among students. These factors make it difficult to create a suitable learning environment that promotes the achievement of the desired state. In contrast, the process factors that act as restraining forces include disruptions during learning and use of ineffective teaching styles within the classroom.
Barriers or Restraining Forces within My Control
While the barriers or restraining forces are attributable to people and process factors, they can further be divided into two i.e. those within my control and those I cannot…
