Ideological representations of entrepreneurship in high school economic and management sciences textbooks
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Date
2020-01
Authors
Morgan, Willard
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
In keeping with international trends, various policy initiatives have been proposed in South Africa to reform education practices and equip learners with the ability to become critical-thinking citizens. One such reform was the inclusion of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) as a subject in the curriculum in the late 1990s. EMS which is a uniquely South African creation, was introduced to address a particular agenda; namely, to enable learners to understand the wealth-creation process and develop entrepreneurial dispositions. Accordingly, the programmed curriculum evident in EMS textbooks was designed to meet these official curriculum objectives that would create an entrepreneurial culture, which in turn would stimulate economic growth. Of importance to this study is the representation of entrepreneurship within these textbooks. Considering that textbooks are carriers of more than content information, it should also reflect particular values and ideologies. It is of particular importance to examine these textbooks given the important role textbooks are expected to fulfil in the South African classroom. This study aims to examine the hegemonic and ideological discourse surrounding entrepreneurship in EMS textbooks. A qualitative research approach was employed for this study with Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) being adopted as the methodological framework to reveal how the content in the selected EMS textbooks represent particular ideological orientations. The prevailing discourses that emerged from the study were the veiled neutrality of female entrepreneurs, the stereotypical position of female- owned enterprises, racially apathetic discourse, other-presentation of Black entrepreneurs, the enterprising self, misconceptions of intelligence and abilities, and a one-sided representation of ownership of resources. The key finding of this study was the representation of the entrepreneur as being a white, capitalist male, deeply invested with neoliberal values. As a result, learners may be negatively affected by the messages passed on to them through these textbooks. Curriculum materials in schools should be selected with care, sensitivity, and consideration to ensure an equitable pedagogy is adopted.
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Keywords
Dissertation (M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies))--University of the Free State, 2020, Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), Curriculum planning, Economics -- Study and teaching (Secondary), Entrepreneurship -- Study and teaching (Secondary)