Chapter 4: Cooperative learning to enhance self-directed learning and entrepreneurial skills in financial literacy

Financial literacy, along with entrepreneurial learning (EL) embedded in it, and the pedagogical content knowledge to facilitate these are core competencies that Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) student teachers should develop. The purpose of this research was to facilitate financial literacy by incorporating cooperative learning into an EMS course to enhance student teachers’ self-directed learning (SDL) and entrepreneurial skills. A qualitative research approach was adopted, and 41 fourth-year EMS student teachers participated in the research. Reflections from participants on their experiences of the cooperative learning intervention were used as a data collection method. Findings indicate that participants recognised the value of using cooperative learning to promote SDL and entrepreneurial skills. It is recommended that the training of EMS student teachers should incorporate active, student-centred teaching and learning strategies grounded in social constructivism, such as cooperative learning, to develop SDL and entrepreneurial skills.