Exploring the pedagogical content knowledge of Economic and Management Sciences educators in teaching Financial Literacy in secondary schools of Ekurhuleni North District

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) educators in teaching Financial Literacy (FL) in Grades 8 and 9. Literature revealed that PCK is used internationally by scholars as a suitable theoretical framework to investigate the knowledge base of educators; hence, it was adopted for this study. Its components were used to develop a conceptual framework which was used in exploring the knowledge base of EMS educators in teaching FL in the grades mentioned. FL is a subject discipline embedded within EMS – it consists of accounting concepts. The study is informed by the interpretivism paradigm; thus, a qualitative methodology and phenomenological design were adopted for data collection. The descriptive and narrative data needed for the study were collected from 16 EMS educators from eight public ordinary secondary schools in Ekurhuleni North District situated in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan through lesson observations, semi-structured individual interviews, and the analysis of educators’ and learners’ records. Purposeful sampling was used to select these educators. A thematic method was used to analyse data. The findings of the study reveal that the PCK of EMS educators in teaching FL is not comprehensive. Educators are not conversant with various types of knowledge dimensions and the framework within which to teach them. The study revealed that educators who do not have an accounting background will have challenges in teaching FL effectively. The teaching of FL learning content is not driven by lesson objectives. This meant that the teaching of knowledge, skills, and values is not aligned to any lesson objectives. Teaching and learning do not occur with the lesson objectives in learners’ mind. Some limitations were noted regarding the application of formative assessment. FL is a practical subject – its teaching requires the promotion of meaningful learner involvement. However, the social interactive methods of teaching were not applied as required by the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement which promotes teamwork. PCK was found to be a useful framework to investigate the knowledge base of educators in teaching a subject discipline.