Evaluation and Research in Education
Editor: Professor Keith Morrison, Inter-University Institute of Macau
Associate Editor: Professor Stephen Gorard, University of York
Statistical Adviser: Professor Colin Baker, University of Wales Bangor
Reviews Editor: Dr. Emma Smith, University of York
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Volume: 20 Number: 1 Page: 32–53
doi:10.2167/eri401.0
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Choosing at School: A Model of Decisionmaking Behaviour Within Compulsory Education
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Patrick White
Department of Sociology, University of Leicester, UK
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This paper presents selected findings from an ESRC-funded research project examining the choices and occupational aspirations of 59 students approaching the end of their compulsory schooling. It concentrates on the development of a choice model conceptualising the decisionmaking processes of the young people involved in the study, whilst avoiding the use of contested notions, such as ‘rationality’, or relying on the work of currently fashionable theorists. The resulting model provides a framework for the interpretation of choice behaviour useful to both educational researchers and practitioners working with young people. Students' accounts of their decisionmaking revealed a multistaged process characterised by three different types of choice: ‘inclusive’, ‘exclusive’ and ‘default’. Most students demonstrated active engagement with the choice process, with only a small minority relying completely on teachers, parents and/or guidance professionals for direction. The types of choice behaviour reported by the students did, however, vary according to the range of choice available to them, with increased choice leading to a greater number of ‘inclusive’ choices.
Keywords: educational choice, decisionmaking, post-sixteen
© 2007 P. White
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