Any process or protocol that involves redirecting learners implies the existence of options. While we had an idea of what some of those options might be, we wanted to see if we could identify some categories or types of redirection options. To do this we examined a number of ‘situations’ where learners had been experiencing persistent and severe personal or program difficulties over a period of time. In many situations, a series of interventions had already been tried. The final analysis in each case, however, was the same. The long-term goal no longer appeared realistic for that learner at that particular point in his/her life. The learner was at risk.

Several factors were examined including the learner’s rate of progress, attendance, motivation and commitment to the program. Demographic and situational factors were also considered, e.g., the learners’ age, health and family demands. Eventually we were able to identify five distinct types of redirection. These were reviewed with practitioners through consultations at different colleges. No additional types have been identified at this point.

Options for Redirection

The types of redirection options are:

• Postponement of the goal – the learner is experiencing serious situational barriers and has to put his/her goal ‘on hold’ until the problems are under control
• Shift to a different goal path – the learner may be in financial crisis and may have to consider working instead of studying for a while
• Shift to a different career goal within the same goal path – the learner may discover a more interesting career goal through career research and wants to switch over
• Adjustment of the goal up or down – the learner still likes his/her career choice but may discover s/he has greater or weaker academic ability and therefore wants to adjust his/her goals accordingly
• Different route to the goal – the learner wants to keep his/her long-term goal but finds the route too long or too short and needs to seek a new route