Critical Review of the Goals for Financial Literacy
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Philippe Turineck Critical review of the goals for financial literacy Critical review of the goals for financial literacy Abstract: Financial literacy is an emerging field that is still in a phase of transition into K-12 schools. The importance of teaching financial literacy in schools is now highly recognized (Lusardi & Mitchell, 2014). Not only is financial literacy education implemented in many curricula around the world, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has administered a financial literacy assessment in 2012 and 2015 via their triennial Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This sent an important message around the world about the importance of financial literacy in schools. The field has not had all its parameters defined and there is a need to identify what is meant by “financial literacy” and what are the goals of this new emerging field. Thus, this review seeks to synthesize and summarize common themes and trends among financial literacy literature to shed light on the goals and definitions of financial literacy. An exploration of how this field is defined within mathematics and the goals for teaching this within the discipline of mathematics will explored. Further, this review will explore how financial literacy tasks are used in the mathematics classroom and how researchers design and implement these tasks. Motivation problem: The importance of Financial Literacy Education has been fueled by the most recent financial crisis in 2008. This led many of scholars to recognize how financial literacy education can contribute to sustainable economic development and individuals’ economic well beings (Arthur, 2012). It maintains that financial literacy is a competency combined from life skills, thinking skills, financial knowledge and empowerment (Arthur, 2012). Scholars have since argued that this competency should be integrated in K-12 curriculum as financial struggles have been on the rise with an increasing number of international financial crises (Arthur 2012). With these struggles, there has been an increase in demand for financial education in hopes of addressing these financial crises by educating citizens to make more sound financial decisions. As stated in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, “. young people are leaving school without the basic skills to manage their personal financial affairs, putting them at a high risk for not being able to plan responsibly for their financial future”(Howlett, Kees, & Kemp, 2006, p. 240). The importance of teaching financial literacy in schools is now highly recognized (Lusardi & Mitchell, 2014). Not only is financial literacy education implemented in many curricula around the world, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has administered a financial literacy assessment in 2012 and 2015 via their triennial Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This sent an important message around the world about the importance of FL in schools. The Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA) is an international survey which evaluates the skills and knowledges of 15-year-old students from participating countries across mathematics, science, and reading. In 2012, the PISA added a Financial Literacy as new discipline to be evaluated during their assessment (OECD, 2012). With this demand for financial education, we must examine the role that this new proposed subject area could have in our mathematics curriculum. In this review, we will explore (1) how financial literacy education is defined, (2) what are the goals of financial tasks in mathematics What is Financial Literacy: Literacy is a concept that can be applied to many subjects, for example: science literacy, mathematical literacy, reading literacy. As Scribner(1984) describes, in spite of ongoing efforts to increase literacy rates, few have been able to say or define what is meant by “literacy”. The concept of literacy is difficult because it entails different meaning through various social, political, cultural, and historical contexts. For instance, what it means to be literate has changed over time. Scribner(1984) illustrates this with an example; literacy in 1930 meant 4th-grade writing skills whereas literacy in earlier times meant the ability to write your name. The definition of literacy changes through time and social setting. The definition of literacy is fluid through social, cultural and political context. (Scribner 1984). This ambiguous definition of literacy is also present in the literature about financial literacy. Even if there is no overarching consensus about the formal definition, many researchers belonging to different fields (economics, social studies, education, and mathematics) have tried to define a financially literate citizen. Page 1 of 8 Philippe Turineck Critical review of the goals for financial literacy Financial literacy education has been defined over time as a set of financial knowledges and behaviors (Huston 2010). For instance, Hogarth (2002) described three consistent themes that emerged from the literature to define individuals who are financially literate: 1) are knowledgeable, educated and informed on the issues of managing money and assets, including banking, investments, credit, insurance and taxes 2) understand the basic concepts of managing money and assets; 3) use that knowledge and understanding to plan and implement financial decisions According to the OECD (2017) financial literacy is knowledge and understanding of financial concepts and the skills, motivation, and confidence to apply such knowledge and understanding in order to make effective decisions across a range of financial contexts to improve financial well-being of individuals and society to enable participation in economic life. Their definition puts a strong emphasis on the processes associated with confronting a problem in a real-world context (Sawatski 2016). Giving our students the opportunity to develop this competency will empower them to not only develop their understanding of debts, saving and budgeting but allow them to reflect on their own consumption, resources, and independence and how their choices affect society, the environment and the world. It is important to recognize that financial literacy education is not only concerned with personal finance, it is a competency that also has societal and environmental implications. Financial literacy, as a discipline, has a goal for creating financial literate citizens. This combination of financial skills and behaviors define what makes a “financially literate” individual, however there are different goals that have emerged across authors researching financial literacy. Theoretical perspective: Gutiérrez (2013) discusses the recent sociopolitical turn in mathematics education that has occurred over the last decade. This shift is in reference to a growing body of research conducted in mathematics education whose theoretical perspective consider “knowledge, power and identity as interwoven and stemming from social discourse” (Gutiérrez 2013, p.40). This sociopolitical turn deals with two main ideas, identify and power (Gutiérrez, 2013). These guiding perspectives seek to transform mathematics education into more socially just practices. Gutiérrez (2013) identifies three of these perspectives: critical theory, critical race theory, and post-structuralism. Based on some of the literature surrounding financial literacy education (Arthur 2012, Atkinson 2012, Sawatzski 2016, Pinto &Coulson 2011) it appears that “critical theory” is a guiding perspective authors in financial literacy research are prescribing to. Critical theory, as Gutiérrez (2013) discusses, is inspired by Freire’s critical pedagogy. Freire (1968) argues that education should teach students to view the world critically, he calls this type of thinking critical consciousness. Critical consciousness encourages individuals to effect change in the world through political action and social critique. Arthur(2012) argues that financial literacy education can promote this sense of critical consciousness. It informs students about the way the world works and empowers them by giving them the tools to “manage” in this world. If they understand the way this system works, they are able to affect change and fight against the oppression. Goals for Financial Literacy: To frame how the literature defines these skills and knowledges, we need to define the goals for this type of literacy. Scribner provides three metaphors for literacy that outline the goals of literacy: literacy as adaptation, literacy as power, and literacy as a state-of-grace (Scribner 1984). These three definitions of literacy can be used as a lens to explore financial literacy, however, in line with our theoretical framing of Gutiérrez (2013), adapting DeBoer (2000) goals for science literacy would be more suitable. The goals described DeBoer (2000) framework are more specific and less general, thus, allowing me to highlight what authors in the field are saying in a more specific manner. I will build off and adapt DeBoer (2000) proposed “goals for the teaching and learning of science literacy”. This framework established 9 different perspectives of the goals science literacy throughout history. After having reviewed the literature surround financial literacy education, there is a clear link between two (2) of the goals presented in the DeBoer (2000) framework that can be linked with those prominent in financial literacy literature. The goals for financial literacy will give