Learning programme design
This section discusses some broad considerations for designing teaching and learning programmes for senior accounting and provides examples of planning approaches.
When beginning to think about learning programme design, it is important to be clear about what students will gain from studying senior accounting. Senior accounting is not about developing future accountants; only a small percentage of students will pursue a career in accounting.
Rather, as one teacher put it when asked the question: What does accounting at secondary school prepare a student for?
Senior accounting is an opportunity, “to equip students with the ability to understand accounting in everyday life in particular to provide them with important skills for whatever job or business they end up doing or owning.”
*
Low, M., Samkin, G., and Taylor, J. (2011)
In the past, many teachers have focused their planning on what (content/context) and how (process) they will teach, with less emphasis on who they are teaching and why it is important that students learn it.
Effective teachers use knowledge of their students’ interests, strengths, and needs as a starting point in identifying important learning and to justify their choices for themselves and their students.
The examples of programme planning that follow illustrate this shift in focus. They describe how planning decisions start with the students, identify and justify the content that will be introduced, and include ways in which the learning could be promoted.
* Low, M., Samkin, G., and Taylor, J. (2011). ‘Teaching accounting in New Zealand secondary schools: What is the relevance?’ (PDF 577KB) Paper delivered at AFAANZ conference.
Last updated September 12, 2017
TOP