Tapiwa Gande

I am a friendly Chartered Certified Accountant turned researcher and academic. I have over 25 years of experience in multi-cultural commercial/ industrial/ academic organizations operating in 4 countries on two continents. Twelve of these years have been in higher education in Botswana and in the UK.

I am passionate about assisting students to achieve their full potential in their university journey.

I have supervised over 80 postgraduate Masters (MSc/ MBA) students. A couple of my previous students have gone on to attain doctoral (PhD) degrees.

I am keen to supervise Masters and PhD students in these areas;

• Green accounting
• The social value of accounting/ responsible accounting
• Corporate governance
• Narratives in published company annual reports
• Leadership and management
• Business models
• Blockchain technology

At the end of any teaching and engagement session that I have the privilege to participate in I want to infuse students with curiosity. One of the most memorable teachers that never taught me is the Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman.

He tells the story about how he was teased by friends because he didn't know the name of some species of bird. He points out however that his father taught him much much more than knowing the names, facts and titles of things - because even if you know the name of a bird but do not know why/ how it sings (or any other behavior) - then you will know absolutely nothing about that bird. Professor Feynman invokes how his father imbued in him a continual disposition towards being curious and to wonder and to always keep finding things out.

My teaching philosophy is much like the inimitable Professor Feynman's. I want learners that I interact with to not only achieve learning outcomes set - but to know the limits of that knowledge and be curious as to how it can be advanced and enhanced - and why we came to know what we claim to know and wonder about knowing the yet unknown.

So whether I am teaching advanced Financial Reporting, Corporate Reporting, Financial Accounting or Research Methods, I have an abiding passion to ensure that students that I interact with appreciate the limits of our collective ignorance and obtain a life-long questioning attitude that thirsts for more knowledge and understanding.

The expanse of what is yet unknown is unimaginable, despite the advances in hard sciences and social sciences in the past 500 years of human history.

I want my students to have a sense of how accounting can be used as a political tool – both for good and for not-so-benevolent purposes by various players. I also want them to realize that they can use research skills to find out about things themselves, and never to take anyone’s word (including mine) on anything.