TEACHING APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES

Essentially, the syllabus covers the various aspects o the

theoretical an! practical phases o business" T#o !istinct an!
e$ually i%portant processes are thereore involve! in teachin&, that
o ac$uirin& 'no#le!&e an! s'ills an! that o applyin& the
'no#le!&e an! s'ills to the practices o business" The practical
application o business 'no#le!&e an! s'ills #ill contribute to a clear
un!erstan!in& o #hat have been learnt an! hence orti(es the (rst
process"

It is believe! that an e)ective instructional strate&y or the course
%i&ht be&in #ith pupil*centre! teachin& an! that the con!uct o
various pupil activities #ill %a'e learnin& interestin& an!
%eanin&ul" Opportunities or personal involve%ent an! practical
application o 'no#le!&e an! s'ills can also be provi!e! by these
learnin& activities" Thereore, apart ro% presentin& the sub+ect
contents by teachers #ith the tra!itional !i!actic approach, it is
reco%%en!e! that pupils shoul! be %ore actively involve! in the
process o learnin&" It is also e%phasi,e! that the teachin& o
-usiness Stu!ies shoul! be relate! to real lie situations as ar as
possible" .henever easible, teachers shoul! try to relate to the
issues at han! to Hon& /on& situations, so that not only th epupils0
interests are arouse! but also they coul! be %a!e a#are o the
%echanis% #hich sets the %otion o Hon& /on&1s business
activities"

The ollo#in& are so%e o the #ays in #hich pupils coul! be assiste!
in the learnin& o the sub+ect2

3" 4ecturin&
A lecture involves a continuous or%al e5position o or !iscourse on
so%e topics by the teacher" Thou&h it is critici,e! on its autocratic
style an! the or% o one*#ay co%%unication, it is typically use! to
intro!uce sub+ect 'no#le!&e an! speciali,e! inor%ation" Its
e)ectiveness !epen!s very %uch on its plannin&, structurin&,
brevity, the teacher0s style o presentation an! the use o teachin&
ai!s"


6" Group Discussions
Pupils are !ivi!e! into &roups to !iscuss a &iven topic in or!er to
e5chan&e vie#s, !evelop a concept or to solve a proble%" The
teacher is responsible or supplyin& &ui!elines or the !iscussion,
elicitin& responses a%on& pupils, sti%ulatin& the% to interact #ith
each other an! evaluatin& their peror%ance" Each &roup shoul! be
re$uire! to present an oral or #ritten report su%%in& up the
conclusion an! (n!in&s o the !iscussion"
7" Debates
Pupils are to be !ivi!e! into t#o si!es each presentin& its ar&u%ents
or an! a&ainst a topic or an issue o the business (el!" -usiness
e!ucation provi!es %any opportunities or the e5pression o
!i)erent philosophies o lie" These !i)erences shoul! be allo#e! to
be aire! reely an! thorou&hly so that pupils %ay !evelop respect
or the opinions o others, learn to thin' creatively an! critically an!
!evelop an ability to co%%unicate #ith others convincin&ly"

8" Case Stu!ies
A case is a !escription o an actual proble% situation, or a situation
#hich atte%pts to si%ulate as ar as possible the business
environ%ent, in #hich !ecisions have to be %a!e" Pupils are
re$uire! to e5a%ine an! analyse the situation in or!er to i!entiy
the proble%s an! reco%%en! easible solutions" This %etho!
atte%pts to sho# ho# business 'no#le!&e an! principles #hich
have been learnt can be applie! to solve proble%s in the business
#orl!"

9" Si%ulation Ga%es
A si%ulation is a representation o reality, %o!ellin& the critical
eatures o the real #orl!" Si%ulations #ith the characteristics o a
&a%e, i"e" involvin& participants to co%pete or co*operate or pay*
o)s accor!in& to prescribe! rules, can be use! to %otivate learnin&
throu&h the en+oy%ent o participation" -oth si%ulations an!
&a%es provi!e opportunities or pupils to practise the s'ills an! to
apply the principles that they have learnt in an environ%ent ree
ro% ris'" It is !esirable that teachers shoul! run the event beore
!eci!in& to use it an! plan careully so as to use the %etho!
e)ectively"

:" Role*playin&
In role*playin&, pupils are re$uire! to put the%selves in the position
o participants in real lie situations o the business #orl! such as +ob
intervie#, buyin& an! sellin& o &oo!s, business %eetin&, etc" They
have to act an! react spontaneously as they interact #ith other
participants !urin& the role*playin& sessions" Throu&h actin& an!
reactin&, pupils are li'ely to visuali,e the !epth o the proble%s
acin& their o#n roles as #ell as those o the others in the #hole
peror%ance"

;" Pro+ects an! Surveys
-usiness Principles an! concepts tau&ht in the classroo% are oten
%eanin&less unless pupils have the opportunity to investi&ate the
utili,ation o such in the business #orl!" A pro+ect is a planne!
learnin& activity that re$uires pupils to &o outsi!e their classroo%s
an! interact #ith the business co%%unity" Pupils can #or' in
&roups or in!ivi!ually to observe an! collect inor%ation or a &iven
issue, to analy,e an! evulate the inor%ation obtaine!, an! to !ra#
conclusions" A report on #hat have been oun! shoul! also be
presente!"

<" =iel! Trips an! >isits
There are %any business establish%ents #hich %i&ht provi!e
appropriate (e! trips or pupils o -usiness Stu!ies" =iel! trips to
business an! co%%ercial institutions help !evelopin& better
un!erstan!in& an! &ive ar better visual inor%ation o %any thin&s
that can be tau&ht in class" A careully !evise! an! thou&htully
e5ecute! plan is necessary or %a'in& the visit e!ucational an!
successul" The plan %i&ht inclu!e ho# to arran&e #ith the
or&ani,ation to be visite!, ho# to brie pupils or the visit, ho# to
or&ani,e the% into &roups, an! ho# to con!uct ollo#*up activities"

?" Press Cuttin&s
Ne#spapers, %a&a,ines an! other publications provi!e up*to*!ate
inor%ation o the business #orl! #hich are useul supple%entary
%aterials or the te5tboo's" Pupils shoul! be encoura&e! to rea!
ne#s an! articles on business issues an! or% a habit to collect
these ne#s an! articles in (les or scrap boo'!s" An analysis an!
co%%ent on the issue recor!e! shoul! also be %a!e by the pupils
the%selves"

The approaches !iscusse! above are by no %eans e5haustive" The
!iverse strate&ies available or business lessons are not li%ite! to
these" Teachers are encoura&e! to !ivise an! a!opt !i)erent
activities an! resources in the teachin& o -usiness Stu!ies in or!er
to attain the course ob+ectives e)ectively" They are a!vise! to
a!opt a co%bination o teachin& %etho!s" The choice o an oti%u%
co%bination o strate&ies #ill, o course, !epen! very %uch on the
speci(c ai%s o the lesson, abilities o the pupils, resources available
an! %any other actors" It is the teachers0 responsibility to !esi&n
an appropriate %i5 o the teachin& approaches to suit their pupils"