Integrating indigenous knowledge to foster social, environmental, and moral consciousness in accounting education

This study examines how integrating Indigenous perspectives into accounting education can reshape students’ understanding of accounting's multidimensionality. Contemporary accounting education prioritises technical proficiency over social and moral considerations, producing graduates ill-equipped to address societal challenges. We address this limitation by implementing a pedagogical approach integrating the Aboriginal concept of Country into a third-year core management accounting subject assessment. Drawing on Wong et al.'s (2021) dialogism-in-action framework, we analyse student reflections from an Australian university to explore how engagement with Indigenous knowledge systems transforms conceptualisations of accounting. Our findings reveal transformations in students’ understanding across technical, social, and moral dimensions. Technically, students moved beyond viewing accounting as computational to recognising its potential for addressing sustainability challenges. Socially, students developed an awareness of accounting's role in creating business practices that consider diverse stakeholders. Morally, Indigenous perspectives fostered ethical orientations prioritising intergenerational responsibility and environmental stewardship. The study suggests five transferable principles for integrating Indigenous perspectives into accounting education: contextual authenticity and respectful engagement, conceptual bridging and translation, reflective praxis and continuous learning, epistemic plurality and knowledge validation, and relational accountability and interconnectedness. These principles offer a framework for enriching accounting education globally while respecting the integrity of local Indigenous knowledge systems.