Effectual Structuring of Entrepreneurship Education: Guidelines for Overcoming Inadequacies in the South African School Curriculum

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is valued for its economic and social benefits, but also to cultivate the characteristics required by learners to deal with the demands of the twenty-first century. Entrepreneurship education develops learners’ entrepreneurship knowledge, skills, characteristics, and mindsets. Several serious economic and social dilemmas (including high youth unemployment) occur in South Africa, and entrepreneurship education could contribute to addressing these dilemmas. Previous research revealed that entrepreneurship education appears infrequently and in isolated subjects in the South African school curriculum. These entrepreneurship education shortcomings in the South African school curriculum therefore needed to be investigated in an effort to revisit the curriculum to present learners with more opportunities to benefit from effectual entrepreneurship education. To support this quest, a literature review grounded in a constructivist approach to determine international best practice was used to explore how entrepreneurship education is being approached globally. The set of best practices was analysed and compared to current entrepreneurship education in South Africa, using curriculum document analysis, which revealed several areas for improvement of entrepreneurship education in this school curriculum. These insights were used to develop a set of guidelines that could be used to address the entrepreneurship education inadequacies in the current South African school curriculum, thereby contributing to the improvement of South African learners’ entrepreneurship education. An advantageous ripple effect could be expected for South Africa if learners utilise their entrepreneurship education to address the economic and social dilemmas that the country has to deal with.