Economic and Management Sciences Teachers’ Experiences of Teaching Financial Literacy: Implications for Teacher Training
Abstract
This paper reports on economic and management sciences (EMS) teachers’ experiences of teaching the financial literacy component in this learning area. It also provides a holistic understanding of their challenges and professional development needs in this integrated field. A qualitative case study approach was used to allow for an in-depth understanding of EMS teachers’ views and experiences. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was used to select information-rich participants from selected government secondary schools in Gauteng province, South Africa. Participants in the study included grades 8 and 9 EMS teachers. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze data collected from the open-ended questionnaires and interview responses. The findings show that, due to poor training, EMS teachers continue to experience challenges in integrating the financial literacy component. Consequently, teachers default to fragmented approaches to teaching EMS, which undermines government initiatives aimed at realizing social transformation objectives through the EMS curriculum. The study recommends an implicit approach to teacher development programs by incorporating EMS teachers’ views, experiences, and specific needs as well as contexts. The research contributes to the literature on commerce education in South Africa by offering ways in which education can be transformative and how the quality of teaching financial literacy in EMS can improve.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.23.8.27
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Ahmad, H., & Shah, S. R. (2022). Teacher agency and professional development: A study on Cambridge English teacher program in the Arabian Gulf. Cogent Education, 9(1), Article 2080352. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2080352
Archer, M. S. (2000). Being human: The problem of agency. Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511488733
Archer, M. S. (2003). Structure, agency and the internal conversation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139087315
Beets, P., & le Grange, L. (2008). Has geography curriculum reform in post-apartheid South Africa strengthened continuity and progression? South African Geographical Journal, 90(2), 68–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/03736245.2008.972 5315
Biesta, G., Priestley, M., & Robinson, S. (2019). Talking about education: Exploring the significance of teachers’ talk for teacher agency. In N. Wahlström, D. Alvunger, & D. Sundberg (Eds.), Teachers matter – But how? (pp. 38?54). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351008808-4
Carr, D. (2007). Towards an educationally meaningful curriculum: Epistemic holism and knowledge integration revisited. British Journal of Educational Studies, 55(1), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8527.2007.00363.x
Chisholm, L. (2005). The making of South Africa’s National Curriculum Statement. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 37(2), 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027042000236163
Dasoo, N., & van der Merwe Muller, L. (2020). Teacher advocacy for the enhancement of professional learning and development in continuous professional teacher development programmes. South African Journal of Higher Education, 34(4), 45–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.20853/34-4-3485
DBE (Department of Basic Education) (South Africa). (2011). National Curriculum Statement (NCS): Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement: Senior Phase grades 7–9 (Economic and management sciences). DBE. https://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=YEgQQlsQNCw%3D&tabid=573&portalid=0&mid=1629
DBE (Department of Basic Education). (2012). National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS): Economic and management sciences. Pretoria.
Doyle, M., & Bozzone, D. (2018). Multidisciplinary teaching providing undergraduates with the skills to integrate knowledge and tackle “big” questions. The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning, 7(1), 12–17. https://sites.bu.edu/impact/files/2018/01/WINTER-2018-IMPACT.pdf
Englund, C., & Price, L. (2018). Facilitating agency: The change laboratory as an intervention for collaborative sustainable development in higher education. International Journal for Academic Development, 23(3), 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2018.1478837
Fakude, Z. T. (2022). Managing teacher’s perceptions of Grade 9 curriculum changes in economic management sciences, Mpumalanga [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Limpopo. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2021/v24i230573
Fakude, Z., & Mdhlalose, D. (2021). Managing perceptions of teachers to changes in Grade 9 economic and management sciences curriculum, Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 24(2), 13–27. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2021/v24i230573
Ferguson-Patrick, K., Reynolds, R., & Macqueen, S. (2018). Integrating curriculum: A case study of teaching global education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 41(2), 187–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2018.1426565
Francis, J. J., Johnston, M., Robertson, C., Glidewell, L., Entwistle, V., Eccles, M. P., & Grimshaw, J. M. (2012). What is an adequate sample size? Operationalising data saturation for theory-based interview studies. Psychology & Health, 25(10), 1229?1245. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440903194015
Huang, J., & Yip, J. W. (2021). Understanding ESL teachers’ agency in their early years of professional development: A three-layered triadic reciprocity framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 739271.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.739271
Iyer, L. M. (2018). South African social sciences teachers’ views on the integration of history and geography in the General Education and Training Phase. The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa 14(2), a482. https://doi.org/ 10.4102/ td.v14i2.482
Jonda, N. D., & Modise, M. A. (2022). Economic and management sciences as the ground rule for grades 10 to 12 accounting learners in South Africa. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 21(9), 120–133. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.9.7
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Sage 289-331. https://books.google.co.za/books?id=2oA9aWlNeooC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q&f=false
Maistry, S. (2006). Teacher learning in a community practice: A case study of teachers in economic and management sciences [Unpublished PhD thesis]. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
Modise, A. M. (2016). Pedagogical content knowledge challenges of accounting teachers. International Journal of Educational Sciences, 13(3), 291–297. https://doi.org/10.31901/24566322.2016/13.03.06
Mohajan, H. K. (2018). Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 7(1), 23–48. https://doi.org/10.26458/jedep.v7i1.571
Molise, H. (2020). Exploring the content knowledge of accounting teachers in rural contexts: A call for a decoloniality approach. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(8), 447–458. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.8.24
Molise, H. V., Kola, M. I., & Ntshangase, M. X. (2023). Examining the Continuous Professional Teacher Development Programme in South Africa: A case study of economics and management science teachers in the Thabo-Mafutsanyane district. E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (EHASS), 4(3), 1567–1580. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202341315
Moloi, M., & Molise, H. (2021). Professional curriculum practice of economic and management sciences teachers: A case of financial literacy teaching. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 9(5), 1104–1112. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2021.090524
Moloi, M. D., Kola, M., & Molise, H. (2023). Strategic devices to enhance accounting cash journals content knowledge of economic and management sciences teachers. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 8(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2023.1
Msila, V. (2007). From apartheid education to the Revised National Curriculum Statement: Pedagogy for identity formation and nation building in South Africa. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 16(2).
Namey, E., Guest, G., McKenna, K., & Chen, M. (2016). Evaluating bang for the buck: A cost-effectiveness comparison between individual interviews and focus groups based on thematic saturation levels. American Journal of Evaluation, 37(3), 425–440. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214016630406
Ngwenya, J. C. (2014). Accounting teachers’ understandings and practices of teaching and assessment in a context of curriculum change. Alternation, 21(1), 171–189. https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v17i1.873
Ngwenya, J. C., & Nzuza, S. (2022). Teachers’ views on the role of economic and management sciences in preparing learners for accounting in the Further Education and Training Phase. South African Journal of Education, 42(4), Article 2131. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v42n4a2131
Niemelä, M. (2022). Subject matter-specific curriculum integration: A quantitative study of Finnish student teachers’ integrative content knowledge. Journal of Education for Teaching, 48(2), 228–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2021.1989288
Nzuza, S., Ngwenya, J., & Ndovela, S. (2022). Teachers’ experiences of teaching financial literacy in economic and management sciences (EMS) in preparing learners for FET Phase accounting. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 21(11), 357–373. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.11.20
Patton, M. Q. (2015). What to observe: Sensitizing concepts. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, 358–363.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2013). Is there still gender bias in nursing research? An update. Research in Nursing & Health, 36(1), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.21514
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2013) Teachers as agents of change: Teacher agency and emerging models of curriculum. In M. Priestley, & G. J. J. Biesta (Ed.), Reinventing the curriculum: New trends in curriculum policy and practice (pp. 187?206). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472553195.ch-010
Saldaña, J. (2018). Researcher, analyze thyself. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406918801717
Schlager, M. S., & Fusco, J. (2003). Teacher professional development, technology, and communities of practice: Are we putting the cart before the horse? The Information Society, 19(3), 203–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240309464
Schreuder, G. R. (2009). The role of economic and management sciences (EMS) in preparing learners for accounting in Grade 10 [Doctoral dissertation]. Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Sentsho, T. A., & Mudau, P. K. (2023). Teachers’ experiences of teaching the financial literacy component to enhance learner performance in economic and management sciences. Journal of Curriculum Studies Research, 5(3), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2023.29
Sibisi, K. P. (2019). Exploring pedagogical practices of Grade Seven economic management sciences teachers in teaching financial literacy: A case study of three Clermont Township schools [Doctoral dissertation]. University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Sim, J., Saunders, B., Waterfield, J., & Kingstone, T. (2018). Can sample size in qualitative research be determined a priori? International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 21(5), 619–634. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2018.1454643
Soudien, C., & Baxen, J. (1997). Transformation and outcomes-based education in South Africa: Opportunities and challenges. The Journal of Negro Education, 66(4), 449?459. https://doi.org/10.2307/2668172
Spaull, N. (2013). South Africa’s education crisis: The quality of education in South Africa 1994–2011. Centre for Development and Enterprise. https://fasmed.aimssec.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/spaull-2013-cde-report-south-africas-education-crisis.pdf
Thumvichit, A. (2021). English language teaching in times of crisis: Teacher agency in response to the pandemic-forced online education. Teaching English with Technology, 21(2), 14–37. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353321387_English_Language_Teaching_In_Times_Of_Crisis
Vu, T. N. (2020). Examining teacher agency among teacher educators: An action research in Vietnam. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 45(7), 94–113. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2020v45n7.6
Western Cape Education Department (South Africa). (2000, June 8). Your curriculum questions answered. https://static.pmg.org.za/docs/2000/appendices/000608CapeArgus.htm
Wheelahan, L. (2007). Blending activity theory and critical realism to theorise the relationship between the individual and society and the implications for pedagogy. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2), 183–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2007.11661548
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
e-ISSN: 1694-2116
p-ISSN: 1694-2493