Accounting Education Atelier

22-26 June 2026 — TBS Education, Toulouse, France

The Accounting Education Atelier is a consciously designed pedagogical workshop inviting educators to move beyond their comfort zones and explore creative, experiential approaches to their teaching.

Over the course of one week, participants will engage in hands-on workshops, collaborative reflection, and the co-design of new teaching formats—all grounded in the belief that education can be a catalyst for positive change. We aim to not just talk about change, but to experience it: to experiment with new methods, refine our skills, and build a community of practice committed to reimagining what accounting education can be.

Registration opens 10 July, 2023

Session overviews

Through consciously designed sessions, we will examine how various pedagogical approaches can foster deeper student engagement and critical thinking. During the week, we will work to disrupt participants’ understanding of accounting education. Participants will work in an international, interdisciplinary environment, exchanging good practices, and co-creating teaching resources. Each session is designed as a space for dialogue—where educators can challenge conventional assumptions, learn from one another, and leave with practical ideas to implement in their own classrooms.

Workshop #1

Discourse Analysis
Host: Matias LAINE

Workshop #2

Q methodology
Host: Matthew SOROLA

Workshop #3

Agonistic Engagement
Host: Helen TREGIDGA

Specific

Gamification in Action

This interactive session introduces participants to the power of games as tools for teaching and learning accounting. Through a blend of hands-on activities, short debriefs, and guided reflection, the workshop explores three complementary approaches to gamification (ludopedagogy): Game-Based Learning, Game Development-Based Learning, and Game Analyzing-Based Learning.

Participants will experiment with existing games, dissect the mechanics and player behaviors they generate, and engage in short design challenges to adapt playful methods to their own teaching contexts and constraints. The session highlights how games can support conceptual understanding, motivation, collaboration, and ethical reflection in accounting education, while also addressing practical issues such as alignment with learning outcomes, assessment, workload, and facilitation strategies.

Whether participants are completely new to playful learning or already experimenting with innovative methods, they will leave with concrete ideas, simple activity formats, and reusable templates to bring meaningful, well-aligned play into their courses.

Jérôme Legrix-Pagès

University of Caen Normandy

Jérôme Legrix-Pagès is a senior lecturer in the history of ideas and a researcher in game studies. He serves as Director of CEMU – the Teaching Support Center – and Vice President for Educational Innovation at the University of Caen Normandy. A recognized specialist in ludopedagogy, he has designed more than 150 playful learning environments and serious games, and authored or presented around 100 scholarly works on the topic since 2004. He coordinated major international projects, including an Erasmus+ programme on esports and social inclusion (2018–2021) and the national Ludopedagogy Promotion Portal (2022–2024). He is also President of GIP FUN – France Université Numérique, the national platform for online learning, and President of Ikigai Games for Citizens, a consortium dedicated to designing and sharing serious games. Beyond academia, he is passionate about board games, role-playing games, and outdoor activities.

Role play

In this session, we will cover the key pedagogic underpinnings of Role Play and Drama in how and why it can be of learning support in ‘thinking otherwise’. We will then provide an experimental session so you can try it out yourself. We will also provide practical guidance on the range and different forms of Role Play and Drama available and how they can be made adaptable to specific learning situations, levels and learning objectives to a smaller or larger cohort of students.

Ann-Christine FRANSEN

University of Birmingham, Birmingham Business School

Dr Frandsen’s academic home is Birmingham Business School, at University of Birmingham, UK. Her research seeks to deepen our theoretical and practical understanding of accounting, and how accounting in its various forms shapes our ways of thinking and acting in everyday life and work within both diachronic and synchronic perspectives – as a ‘space-time-value dispositif’. The research areas cover accounting practice, accounting education, and the ways in which accounting shapes management and strategy across private and public sector settings. Hence, pedagogy is of key interest to her, including innovative pedagogic practices such as Role Play and Cartoon based learning.

Ian THOMSON

Dundee

an Thomson is Professor of Accounting and Sustainability at University of Dundee, having previously held chairs at Birmingham Business School, University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University, Director of the Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business and convenor of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research. Ian has been researching topics relating to responsibility, sustainability and accountability for over 30 years. This research has included studies on implementation of cleaner technology, effective stakeholder engagement, risk governance in water and salmon farming, sustainable development indicators, government policy making, climate change, effective pedagogy, use of accounting by activists, human rights, international development programmes and football clubs. His current projects include carbon accountability, operationalising the SDG for business and responsible business outcome measurement. He is the co-author of Urgent Business and a report Net Zero Accounting for a Net Zero UK and worked with Business in The Community to develop their Responsible Business Tracker. He was an expert reviewer for the latest IPCC report, called as an expert witness to Scottish Parliament, advisor to Scottish Parliament’s Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, and Cities and Infrastructure Committee, worked with CIMA, Sustainable Development Commission (Scotland), with The Princes Charity, as an accountability expert to UN World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation, advised large corporations on their sustainability strategy and reporting. He has been a board member of charities including Friends of the Earth (Scotland), C-Change, deafscotland, Carboncopy and G17Eco. In 2019 he was awarded BAFA Distinguished Academic of the year. Prior to becoming an academic he worked as a management accountant for NHS Scotland and BBC Scotland.

Art

NICK

AI - Simulations

In this hands-on session, participants will learn how to harness generative AI and its multimodal capabilities to build web-based simulators for their own courses. These tools can guide students through complex, real-world business cases, model the downstream effects of decisions with exceptional realism, and stage interactions with stakeholders via both chat and voice. They can also surface genuine ethical dilemmas that require informed judgment and value-based trade-offs. Rather than treating AI as a threat, we will explore how it can deepen reflection, reveal hidden assumptions, and make learning more human, not less. Step by step, participants will move from idea to a working prototype that they can adapt to their discipline, with no prior programming or AI expertise required. We will close with practical tips on assessment, facilitation, and responsible use so that participants leave with a concrete tool and a roadmap for continued experimentation.

Diego RAVENDA

TBS Education

I am a researcher and educator with deep practical experience in industry, dedicated to exploring how AI can advance sustainability and social progress. My work focuses on harnessing AI responsibly to address global challenges and to ensure it remains a force for good, promoting ethical, inclusive, and sustainable development. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, I aim to bridge technology and society to create meaningful, lasting impact and real transformation.

Comic

In this session, accounting educators will discover how to transform academic research articles into engaging comics, making complex ideas more accessible and impactful for students. Participants will learn practical techniques for storyboarding research—whether their own work or published papers—into visual narratives tailored to their teaching needs. Through real-world examples, the session will guide attendees in distilling key concepts, crafting compelling stories, and collaborating with illustrators to create classroom-ready comics.

Designed for educators who want to bring research to life, this workshop will equip you with the tools to adapt these skills to your unique teaching context. Join us to explore how visual storytelling can enhance student engagement and deepen their understanding of research-driven course materials.

sorola matthew accounting education atelier

Matthew SOROLA

TBS Education

Matthew is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Toulouse Business School, where he leads initiatives to make complex ideas more engaging and accessible for students. With a passion for bridging theory and practice, Matthew has pioneered the use of graphic novels (BD) as a teaching tool, transforming academic research into visual narratives that resonate with learners. His work focuses on creative pedagogy, helping educators adapt their course material into compelling formats that inspire deeper understanding and student engagement. Matthew also serves as Head of the Research LAB at TBS Education and is actively involved in fostering collaborative learning communities.

Podcasts

This session will provide practical guidance and illustrative examples for creating and integrating educational podcasts into courses and programs. Participants will learn how to design, script, record, edit, and implement podcasts that actively engage learners, foster deeper understanding, and enhance learning outcomes. Through experiential activities, participants will gain hands-on tools and strategies to effectively develop and integrate educational podcasts into their teaching practice.

Thuy TRAN

TBS Education

Thuy Tran is an Assistant Professor of Sustainability Accounting at TBS Education, Toulouse, France. She holds a PhD in Accounting from the University of Kassel, Germany. Her research interests include sustainability accounting and accounting education. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Accounting Education, and Journal of Accounting Education. She has extensive undergraduate and postgraduate teaching experience across Colombia, France, Germany, and Vietnam. Enacting her philosophy of student-centred teaching, she continuously updates and innovates her teaching strategies, employing case-based and blended learning approaches, educational games, and podcasting to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. She was invited as a Visiting Professor at Externado University of Colombia in 2022 and received the Best Teaching Case Study Award at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association Conference in 2020.

AI – Case studies

TIMO

Key dates

1^st call for applications - 26 Jan (open applicaitons simultaniously)
2^nd call - Mon 16 Feb
3^rd call - Mon 9 March
Applications close - Sun 15 March
Decisions to applicants - Fri 27 March
Registration opens - Mon 30 March
Registration closes - Mon 27 April

Attendance fees*

	Non-CSEAR member	CSEAR member
Full (in-person)	€ 180	€ 150
Student (in-person)	€ 65
Full (online)	€ 25	€ 20
Student (online)	€ 5
Collaborator	€ 65

*Includes all meals listed in draft programme (Coffee/Lunch/Dinner)*

Contact

Matthew SOROLA

Organising Committee

Co-organisers

Margaret HEALY (UCC)
Matthew SOROLA (TBS Education)
Richard JABOT (TBS Education)
Maxence POSTAIRE
Stewart SMYTH (UCC)

Applying to attend

TBD – Will be developed with Microsoft form