Bridging secondary school instruction to real-life settings through entrepreneurial instructional approaches

Abstract

Tanzanian educational policy regards secondary education as a strategic weapon in fighting against poverty. This means that classroom instructional practices should equip learners with the knowledge and skills that could be useful in their lives. This article assessed the role of classroom teaching and learning methods in inculcating entrepreneurial related knowledge that could be helpful and applicable to learners' real-life situations. A semi-structured interview was purposely done with Agricultural Sciences, Biology, and Civics subjects’ teachers in ten ward secondary schools in the Mvomero district in Tanzania. Besides, focused group discussion was conducted with secondary education leavers to assess how both teaching and learning methods play the role of inculcating entrepreneurial related skills and knowledge to learners. The study shows both teaching and learning practices employed in secondary schools do not inculcate entrepreneurial related skills and knowledge, and thus, school knowledge does not help fight against poverty. Although the findings revealed the importance of entrepreneurial methods in imparting skills and knowledge in fighting against poverty, resources scarcity was noted as a setback for implementing entrepreneurial approaches. To address the instructional resources scarcity, the study suggests inservice training for teachers to equip them with the knowledge of integrating entrepreneurial skills in the teaching and learning process. The study recommends teachers to be motivated because welltrained and motivated teachers are likely to address instructional- resources scarcity by improvising the locally available resources.