Accounting teachers’ perceived professional identity when integrating technologies into teaching

Abstract: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of accounting teachers regarding their professional identity when integrating technologies into their classroom practice. Located in the interpretivist paradigm, the study adopted the qualitative approach and phenomenology as the strategy of inquiry. Individual interviews were utilised as the data collection method. A total sample size of five accounting educators was used from purposefully sampled schools in the Gauteng’s district-12 province. The data analysis process followed a thematic approach through use of Atlas.ti. Among the key findings of the study was the view that accounting educators’ beliefs, values and practices shape their professional identity in practice. The conclusion drawn from the study was that, despite having an enormous quest for integrating ICT into the accounting curriculum to entrench their professional identity, accounting educators are sometimes constrained by the challenges they endure in integrating ICT into their accounting pedagogy. For example, and contrary to expectations, the degree of ICT integration within the accounting curriculum does not correspond directly with the availability of the hardware, software, or Internet connectivity in the schools. Further to this, the attitude of members of the School Management Teams (SMTs) in supporting the process of ICT integration in the accounting curriculum, was shown to have a limited encouraging effect. Informed by these constraints, the recommendations made include the need for the SMTs to ensure that the process of integrating ICT into the accounting curriculum and pedagogy is enhanced through targeted efforts to ensure computer availability, financial support and the presence of a sound ICT policy that supported the schools to devise strategies that ensure that ICT is integrated across all the accounting classes. The recommendations also point to the need for proper hardware and software infrastructure and connectivity options to support the accounting educators and learners in their schools.M.Ed. (Information and Communication Technology in Education