Literacy practices and business education: Pedagogic intentions for teacher training

Abstract

The importance of literacy and literacy practices as an instrument of conceptual and cognitive development is well documented. Reading and writing skills have an integral role in higher education, yet the application of these skills is normally the domain of language specialists or academic support programmes and not the focus of subject lecturers. This article reports on business education student teachers' reflections of a small-scale 'read-talkwrite' project. I argue that introducing a disciplinary literacy component in business education may infuse a critical-reflective approach in business education teacher training to encourage habits of reading, writing, speaking and reasoning with the intention to cascade it to school level. Data was collected by means of open-ended survey questions using content analysis. Findings suggest that content literacy instruction in business education can be applied by introducing deliberate and consistent literacy practices for students to become critically aware of and confident in interrogating disciplinary content in business.

Exploring the scope of and gaps in the teaching and learning of Business Studies at school and teacher education levels

“…North 34 provided an account of curriculum renewal leading up to the implementation of Curriculum 2005 and beyond where learners, teachers and the private sector were engaged in entrepreneurial programmes. 15 Findings suggest that by introducing deliberate and consistent practices, students can become critically aware of and confident in interrogating disciplinary content in business.…”

“…Moreover, BSE is underpinned by a predominant theory of productivity and competitiveness and does not really reflect a theoretical basis that integrates educational theories. Critical reflection why production takes place and how it affects the various stakeholders (including society) 8 are still relevant today and, as purported by America, 15,16 are particularly appropriate in BSE at SL. Yet, there is limited research on pedagogy and critical reflexive teaching in BSE.…”

“…In undergraduate programmes at many education faculties, business education is an elective. America 15 avers that not many students choose it as their area of specialisation, because they are more likely to get a student bursary from the government if they choose science or mathematics. Moreover, researchers have pointed to a growing gap between the skills needed in the business world and what is being taught in higher education institutions.…”

“…They found that there is a need for schools to specialise in entrepreneurship education and training, for opportunities to be created and for resources made available to stimulate and facilitate such initiatives. 15…”

“…They applied a phenomenological approach to unveil what the studentteachers' experiences of learning are by using online chats to serve as knowledge repositories that can enhance greater student engagement with learning. 15 Quantitative approaches by Govender et al, 36 Burger et al 31 and Kroon et al 33 were applied by means of question-based scenarios using descriptive and exploratory approaches to analyse the data.…”