ENVISAGING AN ACTIVE LEARNING APPROACH FOR ECONOMICS TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Traditionally Economics subject teaching has been 'formal' teacher centered subject in schools with: heavy reliance being placed on the textbook that preordains the approach to the subject; the teacher is more dominant in class and the learners simply record the information and learners are passive in the learning process. Essentially, therefore a predominantly passive approach to the teaching of Economics has been developed in the classroom, which further makes it difficult to attain the objectives of teaching Economics. University lecturers teaching Economics are not totally excluded from the latter mentioned processes and seem to pursue non-participatory and passive teaching methods-a practice for which there might be several reasons. It is further noted from my observations and interactions as Economics lecturer with teacher education students that they appear to experience difficulties in understanding certain contents and mastering specific skills in Economics. Economics concepts such as scarcity, markets and reserve banking are best understood in action through experience and makes students, in having fun, are more engaged by such methods (Mtshali, 2008). In an Active Learning environment, the student plays an active role in learning by exploring issues and ideas under the guidance of the lecturer. With the latter said in mind, the purpose of this reflective paper is to explore various notions attached to Active Learning and its suitability for Economics teaching. Good practice pedagogical approaches and related policy and systemic issues, especially as they relate to the teaching of Economics at a University of Technology will be interrogated for this study. The phenomenon under investigation will further be informed by Constructivism as theoretical underpinning for this study. It is envisaged that the anticipated findings of this study will reveal future considerations for the teaching of Economics at university level.