INTRODUCTION Copley (1992: 56) mentions that construc- tivism requires a teacher to act as a facilitator “whose main function is to help learners become active participants in their learning and make meaningful connections between prior know- ledge, new knowledge, and the processes involv- ed in learning”. To achieve the afore-mentioned objectives, the Economics teacher is required to create a teaching-learning situation in which learners will be able to master critical and developmental outcomes (i.e. high levels of knowledge, skills and positive attitudes in the domain). Within the National Curriculum Statements (NCS) curriculum for South African schools and specifically in Economics education, it is of vital importance that learners learn how to obtain relevant information and transform such information into knowledge, skills and values (NDE 2003). In other words, the learner has to be enabled to identify problems and find solutions to these problems by means of creative and innovative thinking in real-life situations. To ensure that the outcomes of Economics teaching are achieved, Economics teachers will be com- pelled to consider different teaching strategies and methods. Pursuing these new strategies and methods, Economics teachers will be enabled to initiate teaching and learning effectively so that knowledge, skills and positive attitudes may be optimised among learners in their response to the © Kamla-Raj 2010 J Soc Sci, 24(2): 111-119 (2010) The Selection of Didactic Principles by Teachers in the Field of Economics: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Micheal M. van Wyk Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa E-mail: Vanwykmm.hum@ufs.ac.za KEYWORDS Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO). Didactic Principles. Economics ABSTRACT The overarching purpose of every lesson is the planning of a teaching-learning situation. These planned lesson outcomes can be achieved in the most purposeful manner possible if teachers are familiar with the didactic principles. To be able to make a responsible choice in respect of the teaching strategies, the teacher should have a sound knowledge of the didactic principles that apply to the teaching of a school subject. This study investigates the selection of didactic principles by teachers in the field of Economics in Free State secondary schools. Data were factor-analysed using a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) for sampling-adequacy and a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for varimax rotation. Four factors emerged from the analyses, namely: learner centredness, classroom management, problem solving and assessment. These didactic principles were discussed by using exploratory factor analyses in the context of teaching and learning in Economics. economic environment (Van Wyk 2007). Deng (2007) conducted a study on school subjects and academic disciplines in the discourse on teachers’ specialised subject-matter knowledge. The study analyses and critiques the curricular positions embedded in five possible relationships between school subjects and academic disciplines. The author argues that the subject matter of a secon- dary school science subject instead of the subject matter of its parent academic discipline lies at the heart of secondary school science teachers’ specialised subject-matter knowledge. Judging from the literature review which deals with universally valid didactic principles, it appears that several classifications of the most important didactic principles exist (Law et al. 2007; Butler 1996). Becker and Watts (1998), for instance, drew up a classification based on the foundations arising from the principles, namely the philoso- phical, psychological, sociological and educa- tional foundations. However, the various princi- ples are closely related and a discussion of any one of the principles therefore, also encompasses one or more of the others. According to Duminy et al. (1990) and Niemeijer et al. (2006), didactic principles are universal in nature in the sense that they can be found in all teaching-learning situations, in all subjects, and at all levels of teaching. Moreover, a study of teaching practices employed by Hong Kong academics with specific expertise in education supports the applicability of western concep-tualisations generated through