Through students’ eyes: case study of a critical pedagogy initiative in accounting education

Several researchers have decried the marginalization of critical thought in accounting education programs. Initiatives have been taken to make students aware of standpoints other than the traditional, technocratic view of accounting, but of how students reacted to these, little is known. Inspired by the thinking of Paulo Freire and Stephen Brookfield, we investigate an initiative conducted with undergraduates who followed a mandatory course during the 2015–2016 academic year in which critical thinking, from the viewpoint of the critical pedagogy movement, was emphasized. The setting is the School of Accounting at Université Laval (Québec). The following question informed our case study: how do students experience the learning of accounting through critical pedagogy? Our analysis identifies three types of experiences in the learning of accounting through critical pedagogy: dedication (resonance with one's human aspirations), receptiveness (interest in broadening one's horizons), and discomfort (resistance to critical pedagogy on the ground of the field's performance imperatives). Our case study aims to contribute to the accounting education literature on critical thinking and critical pedagogy. Importantly, we found that dedication experiences often resonated with the belief that critical thinking (as articulated in the course) is marginal to the field of performance-based professional practice.