First impressions matter: teaching approaches to introduce accounting in secondary education

Introductory courses are known to significantly influence students' perceptions of a discipline. However, little is known about how accounting is introduced to novice students in secondary education. This study investigates the pedagogical approaches teachers adopt when introducing accounting for the first time. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 19 secondary school teachers, the findings reveal four distinct approaches: (1) Theory, in which accounting was initially introduced in a theoretical way, by addressing the different elements of the balance sheet; (2) Storytelling, presenting accounting through the narrative of a fictitious company; (3) Finance, emphasizing equity and liabilities before addressing the broader financial statements; and (4) Law, highlighting the legal framework and societal value of accounting. The analysis explores associations between teacher characteristics and their chosen approach. These insights contribute to the understanding of how accounting is framed in early education and offer avenues for future research on effective instructional design in technical domains.