Threading Entrepreneurship Through the Design Process in Technology Education

Abstract

Technology as a school subject has extensive entrepreneurship potential, especially when combined with the practical production aspects that form part of the intended curriculum. The South African Senior Phase Technology curriculum is silent on the topic of entrepreneurship and as a result, this potential is not reaching learners in a country with high levels of youth unemployment. This paper endeavours to address recommendations made in previous research, that entrepreneurship education should be developed as part of the South African Senior Phase Technology curriculum. Utilising the design process—described in the curriculum as the backbone for Technology methodology—as a point of departure, the current study aimed to develop proposals for the unpacking and scaffolding of entrepreneurship education in Technology, without deviating too far from the structure and content of the existing intended curriculum. Systematic qualitative document analysis and a consumer-based approach were used to align proposed entrepreneurship education with the curriculum definition and the original intentions of Technology education, which were to contribute to reducing unemployment in South Africa. The proposed structure and content for including entrepreneurship education in Senior Phase Technology will be presented to the Department of Basic Education for their consideration in subsequent curriculum modifications.