Since some educators believe the underachiever and the low-ability student are frequently placed in business education classes for the purpose of finding him an easy way through school, this study attempts to determine just where the business education student actually ranks in achievement and ability as compared to students in other academic areas. The students used in this study come from the graduating classes of 1969 and 1970 of Beaverton and Sunset High Schools in Beaverton School District 48, Beaverton, Oregon. A business education student has been defined as one who has successfully completed at least two of the following courses: Shorthand II; Office Techniques or Vocational Office Block; Bookkeeping; and Business Law. A survey instrument was used to separate the business education from the non-business education students. The survey instrument records the scores of DAT (Differential Aptitude Tests) and the GPAs (grade point averages) of all students included in this study. Mean scores were computed reflecting the DAT scores and GPAs of both groups. These mean scores reflecting the difference between the business education and non-business education students were tested to determine the level of significance. StUdents included in this survey numbered 1705: 199 classified as business education students and 1506 classified as non-business education students. The study revealed a sharp decline in the number of students enrolled in business education in 1970, as compared to 1969. The mean DAT score for the business education student was 56.35 as compared to 62.60 for the non-business education student. The difference of 6.25 was tested and had a critical ratio of 3.11, which is significant at the .01 level. The mean GPA for business education students was 2.56 as compared to 2.68 for the non-business education students. This difference of .12 was tested and had a critical ratio of .86, which is not significant. The reasons for the decline in the number of students enrolled In business may be: (1) the addition of new courses to the school curriculum; (2) fewer students are taking business education classes as defined by this study; and (3) business education is not as appealling as it once was because of changing business patterns. The fact that business eciucation students are of a lower ability might be because; (1) business education classes appeal to the lower ability student; or (2) that counselors do, in fact, use business education as a dumping ground. Since this study revealed that the GPA of business education students nearly equals that of other students, the possibility exists that: (1) business education is more Interesting than some other subjects; (2) the content of business education classes is less challenging; (3) less student performance is required in business education; or (4) business education attracts the overachiever. The main purposes of this study were to: (1) provide more effective guidance and placement of students in business education; (2) provide informative data upon which to base future curriculum planning; and (3) verify or disprove the prevailing assumption that business education students are of a lower caliber. Since this study has revealed that the number of students enrolled in business education has declined and that business education students are in reality of lower ability, the results have been given to the counseling and business education departments at the schools involved. It is hoped that the results will help educators make a realistic assessment of the condition that does exists, so students can be placed and schooled in their areas of interest. Further studies are needed to: (1) determine whether or not the decline of students enrolling in business education will continue; (2) determine if the low-ability students are being channeled into new courses added to the school curriculum; and (3) reveal how business education students are performing in specific academic areas. Such studies might be of additional value to counselors through a more effective channeling of students into appropriate interest areas and careers.

Following the introduction of a new curriculum, Business Education, in Lesotho secondary schools this study focused on investigating teachers’ experiences in implementing the new curriculum in their classrooms as well as the factors associated with the success or failure of its implementation. This qualitative case study was used to provide in-depth insight into the day-to-day implementation of Business Education, successes and failures of teachers (teachers’ experiences). It further gave me an opportunity to delve into the weaknesses and strengths of the cascade model of training teachers, which was offered to teachers during implementing a new curriculum. Data was collected from three secondary schools in Maseru, Lesotho where six teachers were purposively selected from Lesotho Commercial Subjects Teacher Association (LECSTA). The data collection methods used are influenced by interpretivist paradigm and the study used individual interviews with open-ended questions, non-participatory observation and documents reviews of the lesson plan books, scheme of work and record of work done as well as the students’ test scripts. A review of few documents was used to compliment data collected through the first two methods of data collection. A theory of curriculum change was used in the study and ethical issues were considered. The findings of this study revealed that teachers were not adequately trained on how to implement Business Education and not many teachers were involved in the design of the new curriculum. They were not even trained on the teaching methods because the NCDC just assumed that they would not have problems. Teachers also showed that performance of Business Education is not good because teachers hate teaching theory, as a result concentrate more on practical, which leads to students hating it as well. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Thesis (MTech (Entrepreneurship))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. / Entrepreneurship continues to play a quintessential role in the economies of many developing countries as well as in South Africa. One of the drivers of the economy is the creation of small business ventures, which has greatly affected the economic growth, created jobs as well as increased the national competitiveness of the nation in the world business market. In South Africa, entrepreneurship presents opportunities for bringing together the relatively younger population and to redress the past social and economic differences among its citizens. However, the lack of efficient educational and professional training in entrepreneurship is hampering the ability of South Africa to benefit from these opportunities that are associated with sustainable small business start-ups. The aim of this study was to evaluate entrepreneurship education in transferring entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to learners in selected high schools in the Cape Town area. The main questions are: Is the current entrepreneurship education in high schools effective in the development of transferable entrepreneurial knowledge and skills among school leavers? Secondly, what do successful business people deem important to study by high schools learners in order to be able to start up businesses? Finally, what are the learners’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education in transferring entrepreneurial knowledge and skills? These questions were answered by using mixed research methods. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed to 403 school learners in Grades 10-12 and nine Teachers of Business Studies, to assess the current entrepreneurship education and examine Learners’ perceptions of the current curriculum. Interviews of 30 business owners were conducted to determine the factors that entrepreneurs deem important to study in order to start up and run sustainable businesses. A purposive sampling method was used to select the schools for the case study. Both quantifying and non-quantifying data analysis methods were used to interpret the data. Descriptive analysis techniques were also used to analyse the survey data. The researcher being also an observer in the field explains all his/her observations. Data sets were subjected to multivariate statistical analyses including Chi square, and Kruskal-Wallis statistics test analysis was carried out using the Past (Paleontological Statistics) software. The results of this study indicated that high school learners from middle income schools are enthusiastically interested in becoming entrepreneurs. An overwhelming majority of learners (73%) agreed that they are ready to start up businesses from the knowledge and skills gained in the entrepreneurship education received. On the other hand, 55.6% of the teachers agree that the earners would be capable of starting a business from the knowledge gained. A majority of the teachers (89%) would advise their learners to be employees rather than employers. Small business owners recommended that aspects such as creativity, self-reliance and problem solving skills should be incorporated in the curriculum of entrepreneurship education. Finally, in order to improve the teaching of entrepreneurship education in high schools, all stake holders, business owners as well as parents must be involved. This study recommends the inclusion of hands on practical simulations in the curriculum for the improvement of entrepreneurship education in high schools in South Africa.

This study was concerned with the investigation of the relationships that may exist between certain personality characteristics, as measured by the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey, and the choice of major of students enrolled in seven fields of study in a school of business administration. It also investigated differences in these relationships between two different levels of academic performance, as measured by grade-point average. The seven fields of business included in this study were Accounting, Business Education, Banking and Finance, Insurance, Management, Marketing, and Secretarial Administration.

This research is concerned with the development of entrepreneurship at higher education institutions (HEI). Entrepreneurship is very important in every country as there is a direct correlation between entrepreneurship development and economic growth (Hegarty, 2006). Entrepreneurship education is essential as it assists students who want to start up their own businesses by giving them the relevant skills and knowledge to have a successful business. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the Postgraduate Diploma in Enterprise Management (PDEM) within the Management Department at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. A qualitative approach was implemented which used an adapted version of the Context, Input, Process and Product Model (Stuffelbean, Mckee and Mckee, 2003). Data was collected in the form of interviews and focus group interviews. There were six lecturer interviews, one course coordinator interview and five past student interviews. There were two focus group interviews that took place; this was done so to gather data from seven current PDEM students. The data collected was then analysed through the use of qualitative data analysis techniques. These were sensing themes, constant comparison, recursiveness, inductive and deductive thinking and interpretation to generate meaning (Ruona 2005, cited in Swanson and Holton, 2005). The Management Department aims to equip students to think realistically in terms of starting their own business and to enhance the students’ knowledge and skills so that they are better able to find employment in the corporate and government sectors. The PDEM aims to be an action-learning course and to create an entrepreneurial environment which will encourage students to start up their own businesses. The role of the lecturers and the course coordinator is important as they need to ensure that there is a continuous transfer of knowledge to the students. Students are not expected to be specialists within each subject; however they need to have a basic grounding in order to run a business. Students felt that the Alpha Project was important and useful as it improved their confidence about starting a new business. An issue that was raised about the Alpha Project was that the separation of students into the Alpha Project groups was not executed well. The course was perceived to be disorganised however the students tended to enjoy it and felt that the Management Department was supportive of their businesses.

Entrepreneurship education can contribute beneficially to learners’ schooling and should be structured and implemented (within programmes or curricula) to facilitate these benefits. In the South African secondary school curriculum, only Consumer Studies includes significant entrepreneurship education. Despite this potential of Consumer Studies, entrepreneurship education benefits do not always reach learners, due to underprepared teachers and the ineffective implementation of the curriculum. The study aimed to explore how and to what extent entrepreneurship education is embedded in the intended and enacted curriculum for Consumer Studies, with the purpose of proposing a framework to provide guidance to teachers for the effective structuring and implementation of entrepreneurship education in Consumer Studies. A multi-phase sequential exploratory and descriptive mixed-methods research design, rooted in constructivism, was used. Document analysis, an online survey and focus group interviews were used for data collection. Initially, entrepreneurship education in the overall South African secondary school curriculum was explored. Subsequently, entrepreneurship education in the Consumer Studies curriculum was focused on, investigating (a) the potential value it contributes to the subject, (b) the extent to which the curriculum is structured to support trepreneurship education, and (c) how teachers implement it in practice. Phase 3 identified best practice for entrepreneurship education internationally, which was compared to the findings from the previous two phases. Based on the previous findings, a framework for the effective structuring and implementation of entrepreneurship education in Consumer Studies, was ultimately proposed. It was apparent from the findings that entrepreneurship education only appears infrequently, unstructured and in isolated subjects in South Africa. Furthermore, even though Consumer Studies has great potential to contribute value to learners’ lives and is well structured to support constructivist entrepreneurship education, it transpired that this potential does not always reach learners, owing to the ineffective structuring and implementation of the curriculum. This study revealed the dearth of well-structured entrepreneurship education as part of the South African secondary school curriculum, with the exception of Consumer Studies. We anticipate that the framework will enhance teachers’ implementation of entrepreneurship education in Consumer Studies, which should augment the benefits thereof for learners. / Summary in English, Xhosa and Zulu / Thuto ya bogwebi e ka tshwaela ka tsela e e mosola mo go ithuteng ga morutwana mme e tshwanetse go rulaganngwa le go diragadiwa (mo mananeong gongwe kharikhulamo) go gokaganya dipoelo tseno. Mo kharikhulamong ya dikolo tsa sekontari tsa Aforikaborwa, ke fela Dithuto tsa Badirisi tse di akaretsang thuto e e botlhokwa ya bogwebi. Le fa go ntse go na le bokgoni jono mo Dithutong tsa Badirisi, dipoelo tsa thuto ya bogwebi ga di fitlhelele barutwana ka gale ka ntlha ya barutabana ba ba sa ipaakanyang mo go lekaneng le tiragatso e e seng mosola ya kharikhulamo. Maikaelelo a thutopatlisiso e ne e le go sekaseka gore thuto ya bogwebi e tseneletse go le kana kang le gone jang mo kharikhulamong e e lebeletsweng le e e fetisitsweng ya Dithuto tsa Badirisi, ka maikaelelo a go tshitshinya letlhomeso la go tlamela barutabana ka kaedi ya go rulaganya le go diragatsa thuto ya bogwebi mo Dithutong tsa Badirisi ka tsela e e mosola. Go dirisitswe mokgwa wa patlisiso wa magatomantsi le o o kopaneng mme o theilwe mo go lebeleleng maitemogelo. Go dirisitswe tshekatsheko ya dikwalo, tshekatsheko ya mo inthaneteng mmogo le dipotsolotso tsa ditlhopha tse di rileng go kokoanya data. Kwa tshimologong go ne ga sekasekiwa thuto ya bogwebi mo kharikhulamong ya dikolo tsa sekontari tsa Aforikaborwa ka kakaretso. Morago ga moo, go ne ga lebelelwa thuto ya bogwebi mo kharikhulamong ya Dithuto tsa Badirisi, go sekasekiwa (a) boleng jwa bokgoni jo e bo tshwaelang mo serutweng, (b) gore kharikhulamo e rulagantswe go tshegetsa thuto ya bogwebi go fitlha fa kae, le (c) ka moo barutabana ba e diragatsang ka gona. Legato la 3 le supile ditiragatso tse di gaisang tsa thuto ya bogwebi boditšhabatšhaba, tse di neng tsa bapisiwa le diphitlhelelo go tswa kwa magatong a mabedi a a fetileng. Go ikaegilwe ka phitlhelelo tse di fetileng, go ne ga felelediwa go tshitshintswe letlhomeso la go rulaganya le go diragatsa thuto ya bogwebi ka bokgoni mo Dithutong tsa Badirisi. Go ne go bonala go tswa mo diphitlhelelong gore thuto ya bogwebi e tlhagelela fale le fale, e sa rulagana mme gape e le mo dirutweng tsele le tsele mo Aforikaborwa. Mo godimo ga moo, le fa Dithuto tsa Badirisi di na le bokgoni jo bogolo jwa go oketsa boleng mo matshelong a barutwana mme di rulagane sentle go ka tshegetsa thuto ya bogwebi e e ikaegang ka maitemogelo, go tlhageletse gore ga se gantsi bokgoni jono bo fitlhelelang barutwana, ka ntlha ya thulaganyo le tiragatso e e seng mosola ya kharikhulamo. Thutopatlisiso eno e senotse tlhaelo ya thuto ya bogwebi e e rulaganeng sentle jaaka karolo ya kharikhulamo ya dikolo tsa sekontari tsa Aforikaborwa, kwa ntle fela ga Dithuto tsa Badirisi. Re solofela gore letlhomeso le tlaa tokafatsa tiragatso ya barutabana ya thuto ya bogwebi mo Dithutong tsa Badirisi, tse di tshwanetseng go oketsa mesola mo barutwaneng. / Imfundo yezamabhizinisi (intrepreneurship education) ingalekelela kakhulu impela, ihlomulise umfundi emfundweni yakhe, futhi kumele ihleleke futhi iqaliswe (ngaphakathi ezinhlelweni zokufunda noma amakharikhulamu) ngendlela ezohlinzeka umfundi ngale mihlomulo. Kwikharikhulamu yezikole zamabanga aphezulu (amasekhondari) zaseNingizimu Afrika, yisiFundo Sezabathengi (Consumer Studies) kuphela esiqukethe ingxenye enkundlwana impela yemfundo yezamabhizinisi. Nakuba isiFundo Sezabathengi sihlinzeka ngalolu sizo, imfundo yezamabhizinisi ayivamisile ukufinyelela kubafundi, ngenxa yothisha abangavuthiwe kahle noma abangazilungiselele ngokwanele, kanye nokuqaliswa nokuqhutshwa kwekharikhulamu ngendlela engagculisi neze futhi engakhiqizi izithelo ezinhle. Lolu cwaningo kuhloswe ngalo ukuhlola nokuhlaziya ukuthi imfundo yezamabhizinisi ifakwe kanjani futhi kangakanani kwikharikhulamu ehlosiwe futhi esiphasisiwe yesiFundo Sezabathengi, ngenhloso yokwenza isiphakamiso sohlaka oluzolekelela futhi lube ngumhlahlandlela wothisha ekuhleleni kahle nokuqhuba imfundo yezamabhizinisi esiFundweni Sezabathengi. Kulolu cwaningo kwasetshenziswa idizayini yocwaningo ehlolayo ezigaba-ziningi ezilandelanayo kanye nedizayini yocwaningo esebenzisa izindlela ezixubile ezichazayo, ezigxile ku-constructivism. Ukuhlaziywa kwemibhalo, ucwaningokuhlola (isaveyi) lweinthanethi kanye nezimposamibuzo (interviews) ezigxile emaqenjini athile, kwasetshenziselwa ukuqoqa idatha. Ekuqaleni, kwahlolwa futhi kwahlaziywa imfundo yezamabhizinisi kwikharikhulamu yonkana yezikole zamabanga aphezulu zaseNingizimu Afrika. Emva kwalokho, kwagxilwa kwimfundo yezamabhizinisi esiFundweni Sezabathengi, kuphenywa (a) ubugugu nokubaluleka kwemfundo yezamabhizinisi kulesi sifundo, (b) izinga lokuhleleka kwekharikhulamu ukuze ikwazi ukweseka imfundo yezamabhizinisi, kanye (c) nokuthi othisha bangayiqalisa futhi bayiqhube kanjani ngokoqobo futhi ngendlela ephathekayo imfundo yezamabhizinisi. Isigaba 3 sahlonza inkambiso yemfundo yezamabhizinizi ephuma phambili emhlabeni wonke jikelele, eyaqhathaniswa nalokho okwatholwa ezigabeni ezimbili ezedlule. Ngokususela kulokho okwatholwa ezigabeni ezedlule, kwahlongozwa uhlaka lokuhlelwa nokuqaliswa kahle kwemfundo yezamabhizinisi esiFundweni Sezabathengi. Uma kubhekwa izinto ezatholakala ocwaningweni, kwabonakala ngokucacile ukuthi imfundo yezamabhizinisi yayithe gqwa gqwa laphaya nalaphaya, futhi itholakala ngendlela engahlelekile, ezifundweni ezithile, ezimbalwa eNingizimu Afrika. Ngaphezu kwalokho, nakuba isiFundo Sezabathengi singaba nomthelela omuhle kakhulu ezimpilweni zabafundi futhi sikulungele noma sihleleke kahle ukuze sikwazi ukweseka i-constructivist entrepreneurship education, kwahlaluka ukuthi lo mthelela omuhle awuvamisile nezeukufinyelela kubafundi, ngenxa yokungahlelwa kahle kanye nokungaqaliswa ngendlela efanele kwekharikhulamu. Lolu cwaningo lwabonisa ukuntuleka kwemfundo yezamabhizinisi ehleleke kahle, njengengxenye yekharikhulamu yezikole zamabanga aphezulu zaseNingizimu Afrika, ngaphandle kwesiFundo Sezabathengi. Sibheke ukuthi lolu hlaka lwenze ngcono ukuqaliswa nokuqhutshwa kwemfundo yezamabhizinisi ngaphansi kwesiFundo Sezabathengi, futhi lokho kuyokhulisa imihlomulo yemfundo yezamabhizinisi kubafundi. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Phil. (Curriculum Development)