FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS APPLIED TO A SCHOOL SITUATION by Dean Gotcher

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
    O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
    Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
    Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
T    herefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
    Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble! We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

We find it in OBE and School to Work—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in Total Quality Management—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in our Health care—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in our School Board—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in our Executive Office—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We even find it in our military and police force—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in our Legislature—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in our Judiciary—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in our media—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We find it in our Church—i.e. Church Growth and the Emerging Church

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

We even find it in the United Nations—

            A diverse group of people

            Dialoguing to consensus

            Over a social issue

            In a facilitated meeting

But we don't find it

           in our traditional homes,
                        in our Constitution, or
                                   in the Word of God.

Dean Gotcher

In the book Human Relations in Curriculum Change (ed. Kenneth Benne, 1951) the May 1949 issue of Progressive Education (26:7;193-197) David H Jenkins article "Social Engineering in Educational Changes: An Outline of Method" was republished under the title as represented above in bold print. Using Kurt Lewin's "Forces Behind Food Habits . . . and Methods of Change," Bull. Nat. Res. Coun., 1943, CVII, 35-65, Jenkins shows how to apply the force field analysis approach in the school setting.

Jenkins shows how social engineers can change a teacher-centered setting (traditional, didactic teaching environment) into a teacher-pupil setting (transformational, dialectic teaching environment) through the use of force field analysis. The teacher-pupil setting is described by Philip Schlecty in his book "Schools for the Twenty-First Century" (with a forward by Bill Clinton) as the learner-worker (student) relationship with management (the teacher and the CEO or administrator) in the new age school system.

Jenkins lists four steps in social engineering necessary to accomplish the agenda of restructuring education for the new age. These steps are built on Kurt Lewin. "Unfreezing, Changing, Refreezing."

"Before effective plans for change can be made the present state of affairs must be defined as accurately as possible . . . . [in other words] what are the forces which are keeping our methods in the present ‘groove'?" He lists the oppositions of forces as those found among the teachers—progressive philosophy of education vs. traditional philosophy of education, among the teachers who want to train students "as citizens in a democracy" and those who desire the traditional way of citizens in a constitutional republic, and the desire of students to make decisions more freely.

The reasons for failure in movement towards progressivism, according to Jenkins is that "teachers lack training and skills [psychomotor] in methods of planning cooperatively with pupils," that teachers feel insecure (affective) when they move from familiar methods into experimenting with the "unknown," that teachers fear criticism (cognitive) directed against the school by the more traditional parents and community leaders, and that the pupils themselves lack skills in planning change together, not having received it from their parents and other sources within the community. It is these resisting sources which need to be analyzed before any change can be planned.

"Driving forces are those forces or factors affecting a situation which are "pushing" in a particular direction; they tend to initiate a change and keep it going. Restraining forces may be likened to walls or barriers. They only prevent or retard movement toward them." One's desire (affective) to change from one position to another is seen as a driving force while the facts (cognitive) which hold one to his present position is seen as a restraining force. If the restraining forces (facts) are as strong or stronger than the desire for change (feelings) then the condition is stabilized. It is thus the teaching to facts which prevents or restrains movement towards progressive education. If there is to be any movement toward progressive education it must be the result of an environment which is less and less supporting facts-based teaching in favor of more progressive teaching.

The "force field" is represented by Figure I. The top end of the chart represents the progressive method of teaching while the bottom end represents the traditional method of teaching. Restraining forces, preventing progressive teaching, are represented by the downward pointing arrows; and restraining forces, preventing traditional teaching, are represented by the upward pointing arrows. Arrow lengths represent the strength of the restraining force. The longer the arrow the stronger the restraining force.

"The present condition (the present level of the method) is at that level where the sum of all the downward forces and the sum of all the upward forces are equal." This "equilibrium of change," developed by Kurt Lewin, is presented in his article "Frontiers in Group Dynamics: Concept, Method, and Reality in Social Science; Social Equilibria and Social Change." Human Relations vol. I, June, 1949, pp. 5-41.

The more traditional or teacher-centered (teaching to facts) the education program, i.e., the lower level of equilibrium, the greater the pressure that will be required to move the education program towards progressive or student-teacher centered education.

When students lack skills (psychomotor) in planning change the result is a strong resisting force which will require a strong counter force to overcome.

That counter force might be increased when teachers are willing to give more freedom to students (affective) in the participation of change. Thus the need for a stimulant (felt need) to begin movement and a driving force (feelings) to continue it once it is begun, "If I can only get them started, I know they will like it." Hesitancy by administrators to make changes are reversed once change is decided upon. The "differences of opinion among parents toward teacher-pupil planning can be overcome by the increased recognition of those parents who feel that teacher-pupil planning is valuable and the decreased recognition of those parents who feel it is a waste of time. As more parents move toward acceptance of change, restraining forces would become reduced and movement toward progressive education would be increased.

"When we have determined the nature of forces which are affecting the present state of affairs we can think more clearly in selecting the forces or factors which should be modified if the conditions are to change in the direction we desire . . . our task then becomes either to increase the total strength of the driving forces for change or to decrease the total strength of forces opposing change or both."

"The component forces can be modified in the following way: (1) reducing or removing the forces; (2) strengthening or adding forces; (3) changing the direction of the forces."

One of the importance forces to be reduced, according to Jenkins is that of lack of skill in methods of teacher-pupil planning (progressive education). By training more teachers in active-learning a restraining force can be reduced or removed. By finding the area where cooperative planning between teachers and pupils can be accepted by traditional-minded teachers, those who believe good citizenship training is best done by traditional teaching, can be brought into the process of change, a reversal of the direction of resistance will have then taken place. In this way once a force is removed in one direction an additional force is added in the opposite direction.

After analyzing the situation, "the first step may be to determine what forces, if any, must be dealt with before a change can occur." For example the use of pupils in deciding the rules of civic conduct would be too great a barrier to overcome without the traditional teacher first participating in the process of change himself. Thus the first move toward change would be the teachers' active role in the process during in-service training.

Identifying forces which can be reversed, opposing forces which can be reduced with least effort, and those forces which can be augmented, the task of planned change becomes much easier. The use of skillfully designed answers to satisfy the questions asked by hesitant teachers can be a force which can reverse the direction of resistance.

Administrative participation (for prestige) and the opportunity to get increased teacher experience (for salary raise) can be used to help in reducing insecurities which arise in the process of change. The freedom to experiment with new methods in the classroom and take an active role in decision making with students as well as administrators, according to Jenkins, provides the opportunity for teachers, as well as students and administrators, to mature in making decisions for themselves.

Well-designed questions "represent the kinds of forces which will need to be considered when we make plans to initiate change in our classroom methods." "We might select, as a first step, for instance, getting parents interested in having more pupil participation in planning in the classroom. With increased skill and increased parent interest two important forces in the situation have been modified and the level of equilibrium of forces should move upward toward more teacher-pupil planning." By using the system of analysis through force fields the "shotgun" approach to change is eliminated.

The process of analysis is continuous, from making judgments for taking action, to changes in the situation, and changes to a new level of equilibrium.

"Whenever change is planned one must make sure that the new condition will be stable. We need to develop in our analysis as clear a picture as possible of the forces which will exist when the new condition is achieved." The new condition will continue if the restraining force has been overcome. The restraining force will not "push it back" to the old position providing careful planning has been made to insure that the forces which support the new condition are stable. If change is to be sustained conditions will need to be such that desire for change will continue. "The method which we have discussed here is a general method which can be applied to any problem of changing human behavior. It supplies a framework for problem solving . . . the method can be applied to problems of changing the curriculum, changing pupil behavior school-community relations, administrative problems, etc."

"We can choose to use our growing knowledge to enslave people in ways never dreamed of before, depersonalizing them, controlling them by means so carefully selected that they will perhaps never be aware of their loss of personhood." Carl Rogers, as quoted in People Shapers, by Vance Packard, Bantam Books, 1977, reprint 1979.