THE USE OF MORABARABA (BOARD GAME) AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL FOR TEACHING INDIVIDUAL MARKET AND THE FIRM IN A PERFECT MARKET IN THABO-MOFUTSANYANE EDUCATION DISTRICT, FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31435/ijite.4(56).2026.5206Keywords:
Morabaraba, Indigenous Games, Economics Education, Perfect Competition, Market Equilibrium, Social Constructivist Theory.Abstract
This article examines the pedagogical use of Morabaraba, an indigenous board game, as a teaching tool for the topic individual market and the firm in a perfectly competitive market in Grade 11 Economics classrooms in the Thabo-Mofutsanyane Education District, Free State, South Africa. Grounded in Social Constructivist, adopting an interpretivist paradigm, the study followed a qualitative approach within an embedded single-case study design involving three rural secondary schools. Data were generated through qualitative document analysis of CAPS documents, Annual Teaching Plans, lesson plans, assessment tasks, learner activities, and Morabaraba-based instructional materials. Qualitative content analysis examined how the board’s structural configuration was mapped onto economic graphs representing market demand, supply, equilibrium, and firm-level revenue relationships. Findings revealed that teachers used the Morabaraba board as a visual scaffold to simulate demand and supply interaction, determine equilibrium price and quantity, and derive the firm’s perfectly elastic demand curve. Learners actively mapped board pathways to graphs, enabling visualisation of shortages, surpluses, and price-taking behaviour. The board also supported conceptual links between total, average, and marginal revenue. The study concludes that Morabaraba is a culturally embedded, low-cost pedagogical innovation that enhances graphical literacy and conceptual understanding in Economics.
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