GOAL SEEKING, GOAL FOCUSING, AND GOAL ADJUSTMENT: SYSTEMATIC ANALYSES OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

Abstract

Systematic analyses of instructional objectives are more and more in request nowadays in educational contexts, but there is little agreement about what such analyses are and what value they have. A few possible criteria for goal analyses are outlined here: empiricism and comprehensiveness in seeking information, firm rules for decision‐making on the basis of the information gathered, behaviour‐orientated precision in formulating the objectives, empirical post‐checking. Many questions arise from this, however, for research and developmental work: To what extent does goal‐analytic work fulfilling all these criteria at present occur in practical educational contexts? How are goal concepts normally formed in various groups within educational planning? How do people feel about the more precise and systematic methods? What actual value can they empirically be shown to have as guidance strategies?