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What is a goal - simple version

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Some goal setting ideas for the first week

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Adapt and use this worksheet to help students set a large goal, consider barriers and strategies to overcome them, and small steps.

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A thorough, excellent lesson plan to help students set goals!

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Excellence In Adult Education | Goal-Setting

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This 2-part lesson introduces students to the importance of goal-setting and ends with students creating their own SMART goals.

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Wonderfully detailed guide with example goal-setting activities

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Stay informed about NCFL research and programming with the Family Learning Insider

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Goal setting is vital to the success of families. Through goal setting and achievement, individuals reach new milestones in the journey toward their full potential. This guide is intended to support those who work with adult learners, both experienced facilitators as well as those who are new to these roles. It provides useful strategies, tips, and ready-to-print activities that will help you present goal setting to adult learners. These activities are intended to be interactive and visually engaging.

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Goal Setting Facilitator Guide - National Center for Families Learning

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Stay informed about NCFL research and programming with the Family Learning Insider Subscribe Now Goal setting is vital to the success of families. Through goal setting and achievement, individuals reach new milestones in the journey toward their full potential.

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Check out this website for a deeper dive into using force-field analysis when setting goals

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If you want to truly understand something, try to change it. - Kurt Lewin

Taking Lewin's quote further, you understand something more when your change efforts fail. When you view change repeatedly over time, you also understand that change is complex.

The complexity of change is exasperated by the fact that change can appear simple and easy. You are "here" and your goal is "there". You have a personal goal to lose weight, a professional goal for career advancement, or an organisational goal to improve the productivity of your team. You are a competent and capable individual, in control of yourself and the world around you. Your objective sits as though it is just on the other side of the room, waiting for you to walk across the empty space and claim your reward.

Except the space is not empty, is it? It is full of obstacles and barriers stopping you from reaching your prize. Or at least it must be, because there is no other logical explanation for you not having your goal in hand.

In addition to barriers, perhaps there are not enough forces pushing you towards your goal. Slogans like Nike's "Just do it" tell you it is only a matter of will. If only you wanted it more or there was a stronger burning platform to get you moving, you might leap at the opportunity.

We intuitively react to these two forces working in our lives, but often do not take the time to fully understand. It can help to map these forces out so we know and can share with others the nature of the change we are experiencing. Field theory developed by psychologist Kurt Lewin is a tool for just such a task.

Analysing your force field

Field theory presents a way to holistically look at the forces acting for and against change.

In a simple form, this is represented using a model called force field analysis. To perform a force field analysis, draw a line to represent your current state. On the left side of the line, list the forces that act for change (driving forces). On the right side of the line, list forces that act against the change (restraining forces).

You can then give each factor a score for the influence the factor has on the change. The higher the total score on one side or other determines the total force for and against change. The intent would then be to increase the score on the driving side by adding factors or increasing their scores, or alternatively reducing the score on the restraining side by removing factors or lowering the score.

Two examples below show what this might look like for a personal goal of improving physical fitness and an organisational goal of increasing productivity.

Both examples allow you to be more strategic about where you invest your resources. For the personal fitness goal, you may spend your energy feeling guilty or watching TV, or invest it in small change of a 10-minute workout in the morning. For the professional goal, you can leverage the urgency from the burning platforms of the low customer service and project delivery to make a small investment into team working relationships to bring efficiencies which will then have a flow-on effect for workloads.

A force field analysis can offer a quick assessment for the factors involve in change, but it does have limitations. These include:

1. Increase driving without reducing restraining
It is easier to decrease the restraining forces rather than increase the driving forces. Increasing the driving forces without reducing the restraining forces will increase tension and make everything harder. For example, increasing the pressures to improve health or improve productivity will only increase stress if you do not address the real or perceived issue of not enough time.

2. Not all restraints are equal
It may not be appropriate to represent some restraining forces as being pushed back or to score them equally. Scoring two restraining issues the same may be irrelevant if one of them is a safety risk that may kill you.

3. Showing indirect impacts
There are factors that do not directly impact the change but have an indirect impact. Your partner's schedule may not directly impact your workout routine, but perhaps there are ways that changing their schedule can free up your time an allow you to realise your goals.

Map your path

Lewin understood that change requires an understanding of all the factors that impact the change. This is particularly the case when things have become routine, established, and resistant to change. As one recent article states: "In order to understand, predict and begin to change behaviour, it is necessary to take into account everything about the person and his/her perceptual or psychological environment in order to construct the person's life space."

These forces are psychological. Coming out of a meeting with oppositional team members may feel like you have been hit by a train, but there are no train tracks to be found. Reading an email of support from the CEO may feel like you have the wind in your sails, but you remain seated on dry land. These invisible forces pushing and pulling your thoughts and behaviour combine to create what Lewin referred to as your life space.

This life space can be represented as a topology or map we navigate towards our goals. This topology is constantly shifting. Mountains rise and fall. Chasms open and bridges are created. The goal may at times seem like it remains on the horizon, or barriers may fall and it is suddenly within reach.

The diagram below shows a way of representing this life space map. Your current state is shown on one end and your goal on the other. Around you and your goal are forces that contribute to and restrain you realising your goal.

As shown, change is rarely a linear path from here to there. We may focus on one or two driving forces, such as a key relationship. As soon as we start, we may come head-on with a key challenge and need to take a sideways turn. We gain some skills, learn to adapt and overcome, and turn back towards our goal and overcome the challenge.

Viewing our journey as the map highlights a few principles:

1. It is subjective
The map is created from the perspective of whoever is defining the current state. This is important when working with teams, as where we are, where we going, and the drivers and barriers to getting there will be different from each perspective.

2. It is the whole system
The approach incorporates the full environment into the change decisions. There may be some factors that do not directly impact the change, but there is space to capture these on the outside as indirect contributing factors.

3. Each factor is independent and interdependent
Increasing or decreasing the size and pressure of one factor will have an impact on the overall map, but each factor can also be focused on and have specific strategies independent of other factors.

4. Tension and conflict
There is inherent tension as a result of competing pressures. We tend to structure our personal and professional environments to minimise tension and have equilibrium. But as soon as we want to move from our current state towards a goal, we create tension and conflict. The question is not whether there will be conflict, but how we will navigate this conflict towards our goal and how we grow along the way.

Applying the model

If you are in a process of moving from "here" to "there", you may want to consider having a try at creating a map of your path. It can also help to have the conversation with someone else from a coaching or facilitating perspective.

1. Write down your goal. Be specific, such as work out three times per week, lose 10 pounds, increase productivity by 5%, etc.

2. List all the factors you feel are influencing you ability to achieve that goal. Label these as drivers and restraints and give them a number from 1 to 10 based on the degree of impact they have on you realising your goal.

3. Draw a circle for your current state on the left side of a blank paper, and a circle for your goal on the right side.

4. Draw shapes to represent the restraining factors in the space between your current state and your goal, the greater the impact the larger the shape. Draw shapes for the driving forces to the left of your current state. Again, the greater the impact, the larger the shape.

5. Now consider your path from your current state to your goal. Which drivers will best support you and that you can reinforce or leverage? What barriers are the easiest to reduce and can provide you with a clearer path to your goal?

There is no single model that will work in all situations, but drawing out a map may be helpful for those who are more visual. Mapping your drivers and challenges can allow you to explore new paths to your goal and create strategies to get there.

These blog posts are part of my own journey to my goal as I leverage strengths and overcome challenges. Thank you for joining me, and please pass this on if you feel it would help someone else define and navigate their own life space.

Image credit: www.GlynLowe.com, Views From The Sea Discoveries Monument - Wind Rose World Map https://flic.kr/p/cu6K6y

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A way to map a path to your goals, using Kurt Lewin's field theory | Sideways Thoughts

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If you want to truly understand something, try to change it. - Kurt Lewin Taking Lewin's quote further, you understand something more when your change efforts fail. When you view change repeatedly over time, you also understand that change is complex. The complexity of change is exasperated by the fact that change can appear simple and easy.

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Sample GED student survey - Highland Community College

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Sample GED student survey - Highland Community College

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Sample survey for GED program - could be adapted for many uses!

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Highland Sample Survey for GED class Revised 8.23.24

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Sample ESL student survey - Highland Community College

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Sample ESL student survey - Highland Community College

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Sample survey for ESL students - could be adapted for many uses!

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Research from 2013 that provide evidence-based strategies for learner persistence

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a. Build explicitly on the skills, knowledge, and experiences that students bring to their learning. See related Examples, Research, and Tools.

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Digital Promise Learner Variability Model

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Digital Promise Learner Variability Model

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Select the factors critical to your students' success, then review the research-based strategies to use to help your learners!

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Adult Learner | Learner Variability Project

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The goals for adult learning include being able to use literacy, numeracy, problem solving, communication, and digital skills effectively across contexts. Understanding the Learner Factors and strategies that impact adult literacies and how they connect to each other can help you build tools and lessons that support all learners.

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From the New England Literacy Resource Center/ World Education, 2013.

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NCES Data on Adult Education Participation Rates

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NCES Data on Adult Education Participation Rates

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Visit this site for the full article: nces.ed.gov/pubs95/web/95823.asp

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References

Beier, M., & Kanfer, R. (2010). Motivation in training and development: A phase perspective. In S. Kozlowski & E. Salas (Eds.), Learning, Training and Development in Organizations (pp. 65-97). New York: Routledge Academic.

Bernardo, A. B. I. (2010). Extending hope theory: Internal and external locus of trait hope. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 944-949. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.07.036.

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Comings, J. (2007). Persistence: Helping adult education students reach their goals. Review of adult learning and literacy 7, 2. Cambridge, MA: National Center for Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.

Comings, J. (2009).Student persistence in adult literacy and numeracy programs. In S. Reder and J. Bynner (Eds.), Tracking adult literacy and numeracy skills: Findings from longitudinal research (pp. 160-176). New York: Routledge.

Comings, J., Parrella, A., & Soricone, L. (1999). Helping adults persist: Four supports. National Center for the Study of Adult Literacy and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=332.

Duncan, B. (2010). On becoming a better therapist. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Mellard, D., & Anderson, G. (2007). Challenges in assessing for postsecondary readiness. Policy brief. New York: National Commission on Adult Literacy.

National Research Council. (2012). Improving adult literacy instruction: Options for practice and research. Committee on learning sciences: Foundations and applications to adolescent and adult literacy. In A. M. Lesgold & M. Welch-Ross (Eds.), Divisions of behavioral and social sciences and education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Ziegler, M., Bain, S., Bell, S., McCallum, R., & Brian, D. (2006). Predicting women's persistence in adult literacy classes with dispositional variables. Reading Psychology, 27, 59-85. doi: 10.1080/02702710500542668.

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Dispositional factors affecting motivation during learning in adult basic and secondary education programs - Reading and Writing

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Research indicates that about a quarter of adult students separate from formal adult basic and secondary education (ABE/ASE) programs before completing one educational level. This retrospective study explores individual dispositional factors that affect motivation during learning, particularly students' goals, goal-directed thinking and action based on hope theory and attendance behaviors, and self-perceptions of competency based on affective domain attributions about external and internal obstacles to learning and employment, and demographic factors.

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Two excellent articles on retention (full of research) beginning on page 13.

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Learner Persistence in Adult Basic Education

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Learner Persistence in Adult Basic Education

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An article from CALPRO packed full of info...

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Retention Strategies for Adult Educators

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Retention Strategies for Adult Educators

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An excellent slide presentation from the Florida Institute of Professional Developers of Adult Educators

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Access to slides from this retention session

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Retention-Helping Students Stay slides COABE 2024

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Access to slides from the session titled Raising Performance with an Innovative Remote Testing Hub

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Assessment Hub site on Excellence in Adult Education website

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Assessment Hub site on Excellence in Adult Education website

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Excellenceinadulted.org

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The Illinois Adult Education and Literacy Professional Development Network and ICCB present:

The purpose of the Illinois Assessment Hub is to support programs with remote test capacity and test scheduling needs of students in order to assist in achieving increased measurable skill gains in the state of Illinois.

Starting late September 2022, ICCB funded programs will be able to request the Illinois Assessment Hub post-test eligible students remotely and at no cost.

The Assessment Hub Process

Eligible Students

Program Responsibilities

By making a referral to The Assessment Hub, your adult education program agrees to do the following:

Identify one staff member to make referrals to the Assessment Hub.This person should have access to DAISI, knowledge of testing processes, and availability to serve as the point of contact for the Hub.

Refer students for post-tests only. The Assessment Hub will not give pre-tests.

Refer ESL students at NRS Levels 4 and above only. ABE/ASE students at all levels can be referred.

Ensure that the student referred was pre-tested with the computer-based eTest (paper-based pre-tests are not permitted).

Track attendance hours and only refer students who have the minimum number of attendance hours. The Hub will not be responsible for determining when a student is ready to test.

Complete the online request form providing the required student and test information.

Ensure the student to be tested has the appropriate technology to test remotely

CASAS - computer running Windows 10, Chromebook, or iPad with internet access and a bandwidth of at least 2 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed.

TABE - computer or Chromebook running Google Chrome browser with internet access and a bandwidth of at least 10 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed.

Inform students of the testing referral to the Hub.

The Assessment Hub will begin post-test services in late September. The Hub is a pilot for FY23 and will test as many referred students as possible within its capacity. Please check back regularly for Assessment Hub updates and processes.

Please submit questions to aj-kerr3@wiu.edu
Submit Testing Request
If your program would like to refer more than 10 students at a time, please email ilpdn@wiu.edu for the template and instructions for how to do so.

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Excellence In Adult Education | Assessment Hub

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The purpose of the Illinois Assessment Hub is to support programs with remote test capacity and test scheduling needs of students in order to assist in achieving increased measurable skill gains in the state of Illinois. Starting late September 2022, ICCB funded programs will be able to request the Illinois Assessment Hub post-test eligible students remotely and at no cost.