Teachers’ experiences of teaching Accounting in the context of curriculum changes in South Africa

Abstract

Accounting as a subject is plagued by persistent changes due to shifts in the discipline of Accounting originating from the developments in the profession. This study focuses on Accounting teachers’ experiences of teaching the subject during the time of curriculum change. It adopts an interpretive qualitative case study design to get a thorough understanding of Accounting teachers’ experiences. Data was obtained through reflective journals and semi-structured interviews from five purposively selected Accounting teachers. What came out from the findings is that Accounting teachers often struggle to teach new content as learners lacked adequate background knowledge needed to learn Accounting in succeeding grades. The unique language of the subject, shortage of textbooks and insufficient assessment activities in the textbooks constrained the teaching of Accounting. In addition, school management and Accounting specialists were found wanting in terms of the support offered to teachers as well as and providing regular advisory services to them because of insufficient knowledge of the subject and inadequate supervision skills. The study recommended that heads of departments should be fully trained on curriculum changes in their subjects to be able to provide guidance and supervise teachers under their leadership. On-going support should be provided by subject advisors in schools to assist teachers with challenging topics and teaching strategies.