Still awaiting orders: reflections on the cultural influence when educating in albania

Abstract

The paper reflects on the authors' experience of exporting accounting education to Albania. The programmes delivered in Albania were, in general, very successful. They were, however, less successful in one respect. In a way that the authors have not experienced anywhere else, the participants on the programmes showed a reluctance to take responsibility for their own learning. The paper examines the difficulties that emanated from seeking to foster a spirit of independent learning. The difficulties encountered are illustrated and analysed using the accounting education literature. The conclusion is that cultural factors were responsible for the unwillingness of the participants to take responsibility for their own learning. It is argued that neither the accounting literature nor the accounting education literature is helpful in explaining these cultural factors. It is posited that the writings of Williams (1963; 1965; 1973) better explain the difficulties encountered, particularly in the context of Albania's history.

Keywords:

• Albania
• domination
• waiting for orders
• independent learning
• culture

Notes

Natural barriers divided the Albanians into two distinct groups – the Ghegs who lived in the mountainous regions to the north, and the Tosks, who inhabited the lowlands and plains of the south. The Ghegs were organized on tribal (or clan) lines, the tribal chiefs exercising patriarchal powers. No law other than the Code of Lek (a collection of tribal laws) was recognized. Many Gheg shepherds lived independently of Ottoman rule. Peasant Tosks, on the other hand, worked the land for Muslim provincial rulers and lived in small villages under elected rulers.

Catholic Albanians used Latin script, Orthodox Albanians used the Greek alphabet, and Muslim Albanians used Arabic script.

The Decree on Religious Communities of 1949 required that religious communities be sanctioned by the state. All religious appointments, regulations and bylaws had to be approved by the government. Various purges of religious organizations took place in the 1950s. By 1967, all churches, mosques etc. had been relinquished. The 1976 constitution banned all ‘fascist, religious, warmongerish, anti-socialist activity and propaganda.’ The penal code of 1977 imposed prison sentences of three to ten years for ‘religious propaganda and the production, distribution or storage of religious literature.’

The use of appropriate terminology would appear to be an issue. Terms such as ‘less-developed’, ‘undeveloped’, ‘underdeveloped’ and ‘developing’ each have their advocates. Use of a particular term is assumed to imply (whether intended or not) a particular ideological position.

We would accept that a deep approach to learning does not correspond precisely with the qualities of independent learning. It is, however, as Kember and Gow (1990) indicate, a pre-requisite for independence.

‘It is a whole body of practices and expectations; our assignments of energy, our ordinary understanding of the nature of man (sic) and of his world. It is a set of meanings and values which as they are experienced as practices appear as reciprocally confirming. It thus constitutes a sense of reality for most people in the society, a sense of absolute because experienced reality beyond which it is very difficult for most members of the society to move, in most of their lives’ (Williams, 1980, p. 38).