Abstract
This thesis is an exploration of how secondary school students constitute themselves into future entrepreneurs through a vocationalised curriculum of general secondary education. It highlights the complex process of becoming an entrepreneur by investigating the conditions of possibility and the dynamics of such a process. It discusses subjectivities produced by both curriculum discourses on entrepreneurship and practical experiences in running small businesses in a family environment in order to understand the entrepreneurial identities that emerge from the process. It is based on a case study of a secondary school in Maputo (Mozambique) undertaken in 2013 with focus on grade 12 secondary school students, their respective associates (relatives or friends), and officials from the school and the Ministry of Education who were interviewed. Non-participant classroom observations provided information on the pedagogies used in teaching the subject of Notions of Entrepreneurship (NE). Documentary analysis provided an understanding of the content and assumptions underpinning the project of vocationalisation of general secondary education in Mozambique. The study adopted a constructionist perspective to grasp experiences in becoming an entrepreneur as a process of self-making and being made within a context through particular discourses and discursive practices on entrepreneurship. Important insights emerged from the study. First, while students go through similar experiences on schooling and in running small businesses they position themselves in different ways with regard to those experiences, and the choices they make in relation to their future are negotiated from the various possibilities offered by those experiences. Second, classroom pedagogies applied to the subject of NE seem to be detached from practical experiences in running small businesses. Consequently, while some students regard the subject as important for them to become entrepreneurs because it provides them with knowledge on how to start and run a business, there are also those who see nothing new in NE compared to what they know from practical experiences. This does not mean that these students devalue school knowledge but it does highlight the importance of integrating theory and practice in learning to become an entrepreneur. Third, future career paths are developed from practical experiences students have on what it means to be an entrepreneur and multiple identities emerging from those experiences seem to be driven by both labour market rationalities and the concern with others. These identities are subject to change and since students plan concomitant two career paths (running a small business and continuing with higher education) it appears that they may not be ready for the labour market upon completion of grade 12....
D.Phil.