Potential Pitfalls in Economics Education: Pedagogical Opportunities

Abstract

Economics is often accused of being complicit with much of what has gone wrong with economic life in the last thirty years, such as failing to predict the global financial crisis of 2007‍–‍2008. This and various other problems that have come to light have led even its proponents to question the capacity of the discipline to account for real-world events or for assisting in policy formulation. In this paper, I argue in favour of an alternative conceptualisation for economics and economics education, and discuss the resulting insights and implications for teaching and learning that can enable young people to grasp disciplinary knowledge in economics.

Keywords

• economics education
• critical realism
• pedagogy
• pedagogical approaches in economics education