Accountability of accounting educators and the rhythm of the university: resistance strategies for postmodern blues

Abstract

This paper conducts a wide-ranging and critical interpretative review of the accountability of university accounting educators. The ‘idea’ of the university is reviewed briefly. Particular attention is given to analysing the implication of accounting and auditing in the ravaging of universities; and to the effect of the market model on what we teach, how we teach and how we ought to discharge our accountability, as educators, to society. We explore the implications of regarding ‘university accountability’ as ideograph and persuasive definition and draw upon Whitehead (1929/1957) to propose a re definition of the descriptive meaning of ‘university accountability’. Whereas the principal focus is discipline-specific (accounting education), the central thesis and the themes pursued have strong relevance for university educators in all disciplines. We reflect upon four interrelated contemporary issues affecting accounting educators: globalization, market force hysteria, metaphor and the university as a market-driven business, and Internet technology. We contend that accounting education should focus less on technical menus and more on social critique; argue that the response of accounting educators to the pedagogical demands of the Internet age has been inadequate; and profess the view that accounting educators might better discharge their accountability by adopting an approach to curriculum development and education which is akin to critical action learning.

Keywords:

• Accountability
• Accounting
• Audit
• Critical
• Education
• Globalization
• Ideology
• Ideograph
• Internet
• Market
• Metaphor
• Rhetoric
• Strategy
• University