Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

directive in that it guides choices. Decisions can be rational but inefficient. The most
efficient agent will be one with perfect information and perfect mobility. The relationship
between the key economic concepts is well articulated as follows:
Rationality and opportunity cost are the key philosophical concepts with greatest power
in defining the economic perspective. Marginality and efficiency are the key operational
concepts with the greatest power in permitting the perspective to function predicatively.
Taken together, marginality and efficiency form the cutting edge ofthe discipline. Thus
we see the world through the perspective of concepts while we perform and create in the
world through the operational concepts (Jeffreys 1987:26).
To summarise, the nature ofeconomic knowledge is determined by the economic
perspective, which itselfis determined by the use ofdeductive analysis combined with an
agent-specific concept ofrationality and an act-specific concept ofopportunity cost.
The deductive method in economics has many implications for teaching. Oliver
(1975:20) argues that classroom teaching should take into account the nature of
economics reasoning. Ifstudents are simply presented with the results of economists'
deductions as 'received doctrine' this would conflict with the view ofthe nature of
economics as a method leading to 'tentative' conclusions. He further asserts that teaching
economics in this way might successfully reach various educational goals such as an
examination pass but it cannot successfully achieve the goal ofimparting economics
training. Pupils are more likely to remember economic theory, realise its significance,
have confidence in it and be able to make use ofit ifthey are presented with situations in
which they have to make deductions for themselves.
Reflecting on economics education in the United Kingdom, Ryba (1987:216) accurately
summarises the traditional approach to economics teaching as follows:
The traditional approach to economics teaching was of a systematic formal unidirectional
kind in which the teacher aimed to structure verbal presentation ofmaterial in a way that
encouraged its comprehension and either contributed to its memorization or made
possible the compilation ofnotes and summaries from which the content could be
learnt. .. in schools it can still be found in formal teacher-dominated lessons. At its best,
and in the right circumstances, such formal teaching can be remarkably successful and
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