Julius, Collen Andrew (2012-12)
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) learning area is part of the current National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and includes learning content from subjects such as Accounting, Business Studies and Economics to prepare learners for the Further Education and Training (FET) phase (Grade 10–12). The learning content is divided into four learning outcomes, namely “The economic cycle”, “Sustainable growth and development”, “Managerial, consumer and financial knowledge and skills” and “Entrepreneurial knowledge and skills”. This study investigates EMS as learning area, and more specifically senior-phase EMS teachers’ experience of teaching this learning area.
EMS teachers are expected to provide equal teaching of all four learning outcomes of the current NCS, as well as the three topics of the future Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), namely “The economy”, “Financial literacy” and “Entrepreneurship”. Previous studies have shown that EMS teachers face many challenges, including that not all of them have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the content of the learning area. Apart from these challenges, it was also found that teachers do not strictly comply with the policy prescripts in terms of teaching and assessment, as Accounting is given priority in the EMS classroom. Therefore, this study explores the aforementioned challenges in order to ascertain how EMS teachers experience the teaching of the learning area. The establishment of teacher learning communities for novice EMS teachers was also investigated. The research was undertaken within the methodological paradigm as a qualitative investigation. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with mainly Grade 9 EMS teachers. The approach is interpretivist and the research design is phenomenological. Five respondents were purposefully selected based on the value that they were able to add in terms of their unique contexts, their qualifications and teaching experience.
An important finding of the study was that the experience of EMS teachers was generally positive, given all the challenges they faced, such as the disparity between policy and practice, as well as often having to rely on insufficient, irrelevant and outdated EMS learning and teaching support material (LTSM).
The researcher recommends that EMS teachers teach the learning area in consultation with their counterparts elsewhere in order to improve their teaching experience in respect of this learning area.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die leerarea Ekonomiese- en Bestuurswetenskappe (EBW) maak deel uit van die huidige Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring (NKV) en bestaan uit die leerinhoud van vakke soos Rekeningkunde, Besigheidstudies en Ekonomie ter voorbereiding vir die voortgesette onderwys en opleiding- (VOO-) fase (graad 10–12). Hierdie leerinhoud word afgebaken in vier leeruitkomste, naamlik “Die ekonomiese kringloop”, “Volhoubare groei en ontwikkeling”, “Bestuurs-, verbruikers- en finansiële kennis en vaardighede” en “Entrepreneurskennis en -vaardighede”. Hierdie studie ondersoek EBW as leerarea en meer bepaald hoe EBW-onderwysers in die senior fase die onderrig van dié leerarea beleef. EBW-onderwysers is veronderstel om die leerders in hulle klas ewe goed in ál vier leeruitkomstes van die huidige NKV, maar ook in die toekomstige Kurrikulum- en Assesseringsbeleidsverklaring (KABV) se drie onderwerpe, “Die ekonomie”, “Finansiële geletterdheid” en “Entrepreneurskap”, te onderrig. Verskeie studies het al beklemtoon dat die EBW-onderwyser met verskeie uitdagings te kampe het, wat insluit dat nie almal oor genoegsame kennis en begrip van die inhoud van die leerarea beskik nie. Benewens hierdie uitdagings het dit ook aan die lig gekom dat onderwysers nie streng volgens die beleidsvoorskrifte oor onderrig en assessering werk nie, maar merendeels op die onderrig van Rekeningkunde konsentreer. Hierdie studie ondersoek dus voormelde uitdagings ten einde onderwysers se belewing van die leerarea te bepaal. Die vestiging van onderwyserleergroepe vir nuweling-EBW-onderwysers is ook ondersoek.
Die navorsing is binne die metodologiese paradigma wat kwalitatief is, onderneem. Data is met behulp van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude en hoofsaaklik graad 9-EBW-onderwysers ingesamel. Die benadering is interpretivisties en die navorsingsontwerp is fenomenologies. Vyf deelnemers is doelbewus gekies op grond van die waarde wat hulle aan die hand van hul eiesoortige kontekste, kwalifikasies en onderrigervaring kon toevoeg.
’n Belangrike bevinding van die studie is dat EBW-onderwysers die leerarea oorwegend gunstig beleef, gedagtig aan die talle uitdagings waarvoor hulle te staan kom, naamlik beleid en praktyk wat nie noodwendig ooreenstem nie, en dikwels ook irrelevante, onvoldoende en verouderde leer-, onderrig- en ondersteuningsmateriaal (LOOM) vir die onderrig van EBW. Die navorser beveel aan dat EBW-onderwysers die leerarea in oorleg met hul eweknieë elders onderrig ten einde hul onderrigbelewing van die leerarea te verbeter.
Please refer to this item in SUNScholar by using the following persistent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71778