Goal Orientation and Decision-Making in Education

In a project about dropout among young adults in general adult education and initial vocational education and training (IVET), it was assumed that the ability to make rational decisions has a positive impact on completing an educational programme. A central part of decision-making is the ability for goal orientation, which we have defined as setting and committing to accurate and proximate goals. Based on interviews with 31 students in general adult education and IVET, three categories of goals were identified; vague goals, accurate distant goals and accurate proximal goals. Likewise, three categories of decision-making processes were identified: ‘intuitive emotional decisions without seeking advice’, ‘intuitive emotional decisions after seeking advice’ and ‘rational decisions after seeking advice’. Our findings show that there is a link between goal orientation and degree of rationality in the student’s decision-making process. Furthermore, our findings suggest that goal orientation can be supported in three ways: by reducing complexity, through feedback and by explaining the relevance of the school subjects for reaching goals. Generally, student’s relation to and support from teachers and guidance counsellors, as well as peers and parents, are crucial to the goal orientation process.