Financial Literacy & Education in Canadian Schools

CanadianCapitalist said:

At least for the vast majority, it is not the "knowing" part that is the problem; it is the "doing" part, IMO.

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I wonder whether the knowledge really is as commonplace as enthusiasts such as ourselves would like to think. From inside this personal finance bubble, it is a little hard to imagine NOT having the understanding, but when I rewind my own experiences a few years, it wasn't until I took an Engineering Economics course in final year and first saw the concept of time value of money that things really clicked. That was the spark for the fire, for me. I would wager that a lot of people never get that spark. You could also wonder how we might be failing to provide some of the fuel for that fire as well, such as basic math skills around percentages/fractions/exponents.

I would love to be able to send a survey to the Canadian masses asking a range of fairly basic questions from the personal finance arena, and analyze the responses. I think there are some real holes in the basic financial literacy of our citizens.

Is anyone aware of any data/studies that have been conducted on assessing financial literacy levels in Canada? Are there groups doing research in this area?

And I'm interested in Alexandra's reference to the Junior Achievement program. I've dug up the Canadian site for this program, and it looks like there are a wide range of possibilities for how you/we can perhaps make a difference in the education of our youth. It appears there may be an opportunity to get involved in some in-class outreach, if you have the inclination and the time.

http://www.jacan.org/programs.cfm

CanadianCapitalist said:

At least for the vast majority, it is not the "knowing" part that is the problem; it is the "doing" part, IMO. Having said that there is no downside to teaching personal finance in schools and it is worth trying.

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An interesting topic for me...
1. Teachers are bound by a legal document in what they teach (ie the curriculum). As provinces cram more and more into what they need to teach students, and how, teachers have less and less time to explore some of these other issues (such as money in a more contextual sense) in anything but a superficial or simplified manner. If we are to advocate for change, we need to lobby provincial MLA's for changes/additions to the curriculum.
2. There are some course "options" that deal with money, and some schools allow for more flexibility around option course development. However, many teachers are not comfortable enough with the intricacies with money management to both develop and teach a course on their own, or even to integrate it with their subject matter. Again, support is needed from the province to either fund teacher professional development (as needed) or to have some of the provincial curriculum developers focus more on curricular development for teachers to use as a guideline.
3. Working with junior high students with a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, it is surprising to see the lack of understanding of basic finances from almost all students that I have worked with. I would argue that students need the "knowing" part as well, but that really "knowing" comes from "doing". Like most of us know, experience and wisdom account for a lot.
4. Teachers are offering students more and more choice and flexibility in projects these days. If your child is interested in finances, have them bring it up with their teacher and develop some kind of project together, most likely to be integrated with something they are currently doing in school (if they are working on various types of graphing, have them track and graph some stocks; if they are working on early settlement of the land, have them work on bartering and trade issues of the time, or some companies that have been around for over 100 years and how they have evolved/managed to stay afloat).

I think that teachers, as well as most adults and people, really have very limited knowledge of finances--and for many that's ok, with the other stuff they have going on in their lives. To offer some kind of financial foundation in school for all students would be fantastic, and I agree should be there. If you REALLY believe in it strongly, contact your MLA, or slip it in with discussions with your child's teacher.

fifi

Junior Achievement

Here's another link for those of you in Central Ontario:

http://www.jacentralontario.org/

Here's the details on the experience from my husband:

Basically, you apply online and they contact you. My husband had to do a one-hour training course at Junior Achievement. They gave him the course material, and also an outline as to how to run the class, but my husband added his own point-of view and his own sense of fun. For instance, he bought Nerf footballs, and when the kids wanted to answer a question, he chucked the football at them. They caught it, answered the question, and then tossed it back. He bought prizes for them, and had little made-up pop quizzes so he could give them out. The kids and the teacher had a great time...the class can be as fun as you make it. the class was actually a full-day, not a half-day as I first thought.

JA are looking for people who can talk in front of others, and for people who have some career or life experience to talk on the subject of finances. And, as my husband put it, they are looking to weed out "creepy people" so that is why they will meet with you in person for the training course.

They assigned him a school and class - you will have no choice in that regard (i.e.: you will not be able to teach your 11-year old son's class). According to the website, they are desperately looking for more course instructors, so for those of you who want to give back to the community, here's your chance!

One caveat: Two times, my husband came down with the flu after teaching the course. As he puts it, those classes are petri dishes for germs ;-). So make sure you wash your hands frequently and get your flu shot!