Abstract:
A qualitative case study of the capacity to be accountable in one nonprofit
intennediary educational organization yielded an emergent conceptual framework of four
mechanisms: structural, governing, communicative, and educative mechanisms to build
and sustain the capacity of accountability. Drawing attention to the purposeful creation of
structures that support accountability, purposeful navigation of the complex matrix of
accountability relationships, and purposeful transfer of knowledge to infonn future
accountability, this study calls for mindfulness in practice in broader educational
contexts. Protocols to pass on knowledge gained in building the four capacities reveal a
new dimension of accountability: continuity. In this model, the educative mechanism is
the life force that feeds the other three mechanisms to increase accountability and sustain it over time.
