Content area
Full Text
The dynamics of school life require that the educational staff must sometimes cope with complex dilemmas. Some are decided intuitively and others through a systematic procedure of one sort or another. In the literature, one encounters criticism of decisions based on a unilateral approach, be it intuitive or systematic, for not considering the qualities of the other. This paper examines the effectiveness of a procedure that integrates the two approaches.
Intuitive decisions, also called "holistic" and "non-compensatory," have the advantages of flexibility, comprehensiveness and creativity, not being restricted to any obligatory resolution procedures, and being able to respond to unconventional situations ([10] Khatri and Ng, 2000; [18] Morera and Budescu, 2001). Because such decisions tap into information residing in subconscious memory, they contribute greatly to solving information-intensive problems ([3] Dijksterhuis et al. , 2006). Furthermore, there are instances in which delaying a response to a given educational situation renders that response irrelevant and the immediacy of intuitive decisions is what makes them significant ([29] Van Den Berg and Hoekzema, 2006).
The advantages of intuitive judgment, however, are tempered by evidence of errors in intuitive judgment ([8] Kahneman and Tversky, 1982; [26] Simon, 1993). [17] Montier (2002) cites three possible reasons for their appearance: self-deception (limits to learning), heuristic simplification (information processing errors), and social interaction.
Difficulties in using intuitive decisions arise in complex situations ([6] Hasee et al. , 2003) where large masses of information are simplified and delimited by heuristic thinking. At times decision makers simply ignore some of the data ([19] On and Ariely, 2003; [24] Shiloh et al. , 2001). The process exposes decision makers to the influence of non-cognitive factors that include biases, empathy and emotions, thus impairing their capacity to reach a balanced conclusion that takes all aspects of the problem into account ([2] Chang, 2000; [25] Shkedi, 1999; [4] Gray, 1999).
The literature deals extensively with reports of errors in educational decisions that are taken intuitively. This problem results in faulty assessment of achievement and in erroneous estimation of the potential of students. As a result, students receive inappropriate advice for the continuation of their development ([14] Leiding, 2006). It is therefore of prime importance to promote relevance and accuracy in deliberations leading to educational decisions.
The aspiration to...