Educating accounting professionals: investigating the relevance of an overloaded curriculum Ilse Lubbe

ACCOUNTING EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA Current accounting curriculum remained relatively unchanged Additional/new knowledge added Resulting in overloaded curriculum Dominant role of accounting profession Accreditation of programmes Is the current curriculum still relevant for a professional accounting qualification, given the challenges in HE in SA?

Recognition & realisation CURRICULUM THEORY Selection: Relevance What counts as valid knowledge? Sequence, Pacing, Framing: Pedagogy Evaluation: Recognition & realisation Student learning knowledge /skills curriculum assessment World of work; Profession Teaching & learning Student expectation

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Selection Pacing Sequence Evaluation BERNSTEIN (2000) CLASSIFICATION & FRAMING What? How much? What order? What counts?

Literature Burns et al (2004) Hopper (2012) “ … accounting education overly inculcates technical skills and rote, rule-based learning; neglects theory, ethics and morality, and is overly concentrated on the interest of private capital”   Hopper (2012) Making accounting degrees fit for a university “...aspiration is to develop critical and creative thinking by engaging students in holistic, multidisciplinary analyses of ‘real’ accounting cases illustrating shortcomings of capitalism” Chabrak & Craig (2013) “... conventional accounting pedagogy neglects critical thought” “accounting curricula are orientated towards ideologies and interest of the privileged” Venter & De Villiers (2013) “Strong control of SAICA over the CA curriculum ...” Lubbe (2016) Challenges in curriculum design: Considerations for a four year business and accounting degree in South Africa

METHODOLOGY SAICA accredited programmes 13 institutions; 5 selected Selection based on: Geography Length of accreditation Continuity of accreditation Based on information available in public domain, via institutional websites relevant size, geographical location, and the length of time that these programmes have been accredited by SAICA

Investigation & findings Entrance requirements Sequence and pacing – when, where? Weighting of specific disciplines Density of programme – how many courses? What is different/new?

Entrance requirements Institution Entrance requirements A Admission minimum of 32 NSC points, including Level 5 Mathematics, Level 4 English, Level 4 Life Orientation B APS 30 and Mathematics level 5 (60-69%) Grade 12 Accounting is a recommendation, but not a prerequisite. C NSC with Bachelor’s Degree admission, with English at Level 5 and Mathematics at Level 5 D Points score of no less than 30, with English at least level 4, Another language at level 3, Mathematics at least level 5, or Accounting level 5 and Maths level 4 E Points score of 38, with English, Afrikaans or isiXhosa - at least level 3, and Maths at least level 5

Undergraduate programmes (3 years)

Weighting of disciplines

What counts?

Students’ performance “We are so proud ... that is such an indicator of the quality of our graduates .. “ [Fort Hare comes out tops, SAICA, 2016]

Other observations Programmes tailored around SAICA CF Different levels of completeness and accessibility of information on websites Institutions that were subject to restructuring and reorganisations provided more comprehensive, clearer and relevant information

What is unique? What is missing? Ethics & Professional skills Language: basic IziZulu Academic Literacy Personal finance literacy Capstone courses and integration (with IS) Accountability & sustainability Localised curriculum – towards the needs of SA’s developing economy

Limitations Visible curriculum – selection, pacing, sequence Hidden curriculum – not visible: framing What is taught and how Focus on HOW (technical skills), instead of WHY Use of case studies (critical thinking) Integration Assessment

Conversations around the relevance of the curriculum, including: SAAA conference (June 2017) “Quest for relevance in a changing world” – call on Acc Academics to engage in collaborative research Conversations around the relevance of the curriculum, including: Ethics, accountability, responsible citizens Integration: IS and case studies Localise: consider knowledge associated with public sector, SMEs, etc.