St. Johns University - ECON 201pedagogical challenges facing business studies teachers

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Pedagogical Challenges Besetting Business Studies Teachers in Secondary Schools: A Botswana Perspective Burman Musa Sithole1 and Mutendwahothe Walter Lumadi2 1Department of Languages and Social Sci... ences Education, University of Botswana 2Department of Curriculum and instruction, University of South Africa, South Africa Telephone: +27 83 736 2231,+27 12 429 8747, Fax: +27 12 429 4909 E-mail: 1<[email protected]>, 2<[email protected]> KEYWORDS Business Education. Business Studies. Constructivist Pedagogy. Entrepreneurial Pedagogy. Experiential Pedagogy ABSTRACT This study sought to examine the pedagogical challenges faced by Business Studies teachers in Botswana’s junior secondary schools. Respondents’ views were recorded using structured interviews. The research revealed that Business Studies teachers in Botswana were facing certain challenges that can be grouped into three main categories: (1) challenges relating to teaching the subject matter and constraints in using entrepreneurial pedagogies and inadequacy of financial resources); (2) challenges relating to the students themselves (students’ lack of prior knowledge in the subject, scaffolding tasks in mixed ability classes, immaturity of students in relation to subject content and misconceptions by students that the subject is difficult); and (3) challenges relating to policy such as the inability to implement pedagogies prescribed in the syllabus. These challenges should not be regarded as unique to Business Studies. Collectively, however, they do bring to light some of the principles that could inform the development of a distinctive pedagogy for Business Studies INTRODUCTION Business Studies is offered in the Botswana secondary school curriculum at both junior and senior secondary school levels (See Fig. 1 for map of Botswana). At junior secondary school level, it is offered initially as a single subject in Form 1, followed by two options in Forms 2 and 3; these options are Commerce and Office Procedures, or Commerce and Bookkeeping/Accounting (Republic of Botswana 2008a; Republic of Botswana 2008b). The content in the Business Studies syllabus is such that it incorporates the acquisition of both academic and practical skills that may help the students to fit into post-school working environments. This is why Business Studies is classified as a “practical subject” in Botswana’s Revised National Policy on Education of 1994 [Show More]

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