Teaching to read qualitative research literature in accounting as Literature

The use of literary extracts, especially from novels, has permeated pedagogical practices in several disciplines within social sciences. Even in accounting higher education programs there have been limited but conclusive experiments mentioning the benefits of referring to fiction notably as part of lectures related to business ethics. This article argues that more can be gained on a wider range of topics from the use of narratives in accounting classes. It suggests that empirical sections from existing qualitative research articles published in the field of accounting constitute a rich body of stories that can enhance classroom experience both for teachers and students. It is known that reading stories helps individuals to face the ambiguity and complexity of contemporaryworld. By extracting narratives from existing qualitative research in accounting, accounting educators may confront their students with the variety and diversity of accounting practices in organizations and encourage them to read more research now and throughout their careers. The objective is to equip students with a large set of experiences and with the habit to stop, ponder and imagine what they should be doing with the tools offered by the accounting discipline.