Sithole, B. M.(IJSRE, http://www.ijsre.com, June NaN, 2010)
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Abstract:
This study was conducted to determine the extent to which the teaching practices of Business Studies teachers in Botswana junior secondary schools conform to pedagogical practices recommended by curriculum planners. The findings of this study suggest that teachers and curriculum planners are not singing from the same hymnbook, thus, the pedagogical practices of Business Studies teachers are at variance with the expectations of the curriculum planners. Teacher-centred pedagogy is the dominant mode of instruction used to teach Business Studies in Botswana junior secondary schools despite the fact that curriculum planners advocate for a paradigm shift from teaching to learning through the employment of learner-centred entrepreneurial-directed teaching methods. The study concludes with the recommendation that, for pedagogical practices of business teachers to be aligned with those prescribed by curriculum planners, educational authorities and school administrators should put in place support structures aimed at monitoring and ensuring that the delivery of business education is done according to the stipulated business curriculum standards as well as enforcing the fulfillment of pedagogical
practices set in the syllabi.
Over time, there has been a significant rise in vocational education
and technical training in Botswana. This article shows that there is a positive
and significant relationship between economic growth and vocational education
and technical training in the country. However, job creation in the formal sector
is limited, given the size of the domestic market. It is necessary that the expansion of vocational and technical training should be accompanied with
appreciable growth in employment in the formal sector. Botswana should
produce for the regional market in Southern Africa in order to circumvent the smallness of the domestic market. Outward-looking, export production can
loosen the most binding constraints to economic growth with structural change in the country.