Consumer and Financial Literacy – a vehicle for developing numeracy skills
Slide 1
This presentation concerns a topic that is of the utmost importance in these times - consumer
and financial literacy. It has always been an important area to teach children about, but with
the World Financial Crisis having made such dramatic impacts on all our lives, it has
certainly become obvious how essential it is for, not only our students, but in fact all of us, to
become more literate in consumer and financial matters.
This presentation will focus on how consumer and financial literacy is linked to numeracy
and will show how it can enhance your students’ numeracy skills – this is important, as
numeracy is one of the General Capabilities that are addressed in the Australian Curriculum.
Slide 2
We will look at definitions of numeracy and consumer and financial literacy and talk about
why they are so important, and will then see how the two are related.
Slide 3 So, let us start by having a look at what we mean when we talk about Numeracy and
why there is such a focus on it? We might start by looking at what numeracy is NOT – as
there is a bit of confusion about this term.
Slide 4
Numeracy is not, as myth would suggest:
• the same as Maths
• the name used for ‘basic maths’ subjects; or
• solely the business of the maths teacher
Slide 5
Nor is it what many people who are asked to define it suggest:
• Numbers (“doing sums”, arithmetic)
• The basic maths people need in order to survive in the real world
• The name for primary school maths
• The name for the ‘vegie’ maths subject in secondary school
Being numerate, in fact, is to use, and to know when to use, mathematics in everyday life;
and more than that, to actually want to use it – to have the disposition to use it when it is
needed.
Slide 6
So what is Numeracy? Let's look at a definition:
“To be numerate is to use mathematics effectively to meet the general demands of life at
home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life. …. In school
education, numeracy is a fundamental component of learning … across all areas of the
curriculum. It involves the disposition to use, in context, a combination of:
• underpinning mathematical concepts and skills from across the discipline;
• mathematical thinking and strategies;
• general thinking skills; and
• grounded appreciation of context”.
This definition comes from:
Report of the Numeracy Education Strategy Development Conference, Numeracy =
Everyone's Business (October 1997) adopted by Australian Association of Mathematics
Teachers
Slide 7
Merrilyn Goos from the University of Queensland has produced a very comprehensive
diagrammatic interpretation of what Numeracy is. She calls this the 21st century version.
Merrilyn Goos uses a triangle to illustrate the different parts of the definition. This is
particularly useful for our visual learners.:
1. We cannot be numerate in isolation. We need a context to begin with.
2. Then we need to have some mathematical knowledge. That knowledge consists of
concepts and skills, it involves estimation and it requires problem solving which
dovetails with Ways of Working or Thinking, Reasoning and Working
Mathematically.
3. Next we have to have the right disposition to use the maths we know. This means we
need to be willing to take a risk with what or how we tackle a problem; we need to
show some initiative in obtaining a solution; there needs to be some flexibility in
how we go about using the maths we have; and finally we need to be confident to use
our maths knowledge in a range of situations.
4. When working mathematically we use a range of tools. We have all the physical aids
– such as tape measures, rulers, protractors, compasses, concrete materials. We also
have representational tools such as tables, graphs, symbols, pictures. Also, in the
modern world we have a broad selection of digital tools, computers, GPS, etc.
5. The contexts in which we may be required to use this knowledge, tools and
disposition may include – Personal and Social; Work; Citizenship.
NOTE: We can’t teach risk taking, showing initiative or confidence. However, we can
encourage, model, foster and demonstrate these traits. This is easier if we have authentic and
relevant tasks that involve students working mathematically. This is where consumer and
financial literacy come in – particular in the dimensions of Competence and Enterprise.
Slide 8
Now that we see how inclusive and all encompassing numeracy is, let’s see why it is so
important for our students to become numerate:
Slide 9
Research has shown that:
“People without numeracy skills suffered worse disadvantage in employment than those with
poor literacy skills”.
“Poor numeracy skills make it difficult to function effectively in all areas of modern life”
Bynner and Parsons (1995 & 2005)
Slide 10
Numeracy is everyone’s business as numeracy opportunities or demands are found across the
KLAs.
So, this means that all teachers become teachers of numeracy:
All teachers within a school have a role in supporting their students to
• apply their mathematics in order to carry out tasks requiring mathematics,
• to ‘make sense’ of their learning area, and
• critique the use of maths in their learning area
Slide 11
So, while we are teaching we need to identify numeracy moments and consider whether the
students possess the mathematical skills and knowledge necessary to access the learning. If
the answer is YES, we need to use this numeracy opportunity to link to prior learning. If,
however, the answer is NO, we will need to use this numeracy demand as a chance to
explain new learning. (it is necessary to learn the mathematics first). An example of this
might be in History when looking at graphs or tables to do with immigration trends.
When planning your units of work become aware of the numeracy skills – across the
curriculum and always look for and articulate opportunities to develop these skills.
Slide 12
Now let’s take a look at what Consumer and Financial Literacy is and see why it is so
important. The inclusion of financial literacy in the curriculum has come at a time when our
young people are facing increasingly complex financial decisions, such as, a growing range
of non-cash payments; the easy availability of credit and a rise in the cost of living. Financial
Literacy is more that the ability to recognize coins or calculations involving money. It is an
essential life skill, a behavioural outcome, which enhances their ability to make effective
choices and become more financially responsible.
Slide 13
For our definition we will go to the National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework
that was created in 2005 and revised in 2009.
Consumer and financial literacy is the application of knowledge, understandings, skills and
values in consumer and financial contexts and the related decisions that impact on self,
others, the community and the environment.
National Consumer and Financial Framework, MCEETYA, 2005
So, already we can see a link to Numeracy in that it is the application of knowledge, skills
and values, while in numeracy it is the - use of mathematics effectively to meet the general
demands of life at home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life. So it
is that real life context we are talking about.
Slide 14
So why is Consumer and Financial Literacy so important?
Slide 15: Rationale behind the Framework
Every day, across the world, consumers, businesses and governments exchange goods and
services. In a climate of changing global, national, community and family
economic circumstances, the form and complexity of these transactions continue to change.
The world of consumers is becoming increasingly complex (eg superannuation, personal
investments, a more complex tax system, and increased applications of new technologies) and
research indicates that levels of consumer and financial literacy among adults, parents and
young people alike are insufficient to cope with many of these complexities. For individuals,
effective decision making is related to consumer behaviours and literacy.
Consumer and financial literacy is important for all young people to empower them to make
informed consumer decisions and to manage effectively their personal financial resources.
Young people increasingly influence household spending and should understand the financial
consequences of satisfying their needs and wants. Recent research indicates the economic
benefits for the entire community of increased levels of consumer and financial literacy and
of addressing youth debt.
Slide 16
Now, have a look at this - a bit scary isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could turn this
upside down – well, with an increasingly consumer and financially literate population that
might be a possibility!!
Slide 17 and 18
Fortunately, young people themselves see the need for this in their education
Slide 19
So, how can we go about teaching Consumer and Financial Literacy? The Framework gives
us very clearly set out sequential Descriptions of Learning for Yrs 3, 5, 7 and 9 These can be
found to address 4 dimensions:

Knowledge and understanding is about the nature and forms of money, how it is
used and the consequences of consumer decisions.

Competence is the application of consumer and financial knowledge and skills in a
range of changing contexts.

Enterprise is the opportunity to use initiative, build financial capabilities and manage
risk-taking when making consumer and financial decisions.

Responsibility is appropriate consumer and financial decisions that display care for
self, others, the community and the environment.
At this point I might just differentiate between consumer literacy and financial literacy – the
former relates to issues such as consumer behaviour, consumer protection, scams, ethical and
sustainable consumption, E-commerce, financial institutions and advertising, while the latter
is more to do with understanding money, personal finance and money management –
budgeting, use of credit cards etc.
Again the links to numeracy are obvious in these areas – Remember being numerate is to use
mathematics effectively to meet the general demands of life at home, in paid work, and for
participation in community and civic life.
Slide 20
So, how are these two things – numeracy and consumer and financial literacy linked and how
can teaching consumer and financial literacy strengthen our students’ numeracy skills?
Slide 21
Well, let’s go back to the triangle diagram to make these links.
As we saw before we can not be numerate in isolation. We need a context to work in and then
we need to be competent and confident in the three components of numeracy found on the
corners of the triangle – mathematical knowledge, tools and dispositions. These are all related
to each other. So how does consumer and financial literacy fit into them?
We will start in the centre – with the contexts – because these will give us the real life aspect
that makes consumer and financial literacy such an engaging area for students to work in
while giving them the opportunity to develop their numeracy skills. We need to be numerate
in different contexts to be able to live and act confidently in the world. According to
Merrilyn’s diagram there are three main contexts where numeracy is needed.
Slide 22
Out of the three, it is the Personal and Social context where there are probably the most
opportunities to teach consumer and financial literacy and thereby increase students’
numeracy skills in schools. This area includes controlling personal finance, personal health
and travel.
Slide 23
So, in personal finance you can look at budgeting, distinguishing between needs and wants
and then prioritising them, saving, use of credit cards, responsible use of mobile phones,
advertising – critically analysing the presentation and the influence of it, mortgages, interest
rates, financial institutions and so on.
Slide 24
In personal health, again, there are a myriad of topics you can explore and here is a good
opportunity to link with Health and Physical Education as well. You can look at food,
exercise and leisure activities. In food and exercise you can do activities like: comparing
costs of junk food versus healthy food; going shopping for a healthy lunch; creating an
exercise plan on a budget – exploring the costs of different exercise activities.
In leisure activities, you can explore visits to the movies, theme parks and Shows like the
Royal Easter Show for example – then you might compare the costs of these; perhaps
working out a little budget including travel and food. When planning school excursions or
fund raisers this is an ideal opportunity to allow the students to get involved in some real life
consumer and financial literacy activities. With the older students you could have a look at
another great leisure time activity – that of gambling– pokies, horses, scratchies etc – what a
good opportunity to teach about chance and data in a real life context and to explore some of
the ethical issues around this as well – this is another excellent opportunity to link in with
Health and Physical Education again, particularly when you look at out of control gambling the notion of addictions and so forth. The impact that addictions have on one’s own life,
one’s family and the community at large. It could be interesting to let students know that
research shows that a large number of our homeless people have stories that attribute
addiction to gambling as being responsible for the situation they are in today.
Slide 25
Then when we look at travel again the amount of numeracy and consumer and financial
literacy that can be taught here is enormous – comparing costs of airfares, accommodation,
creating travel brochures, working out itineraries – again if able to link it into a real trip – for
example an excursion – all the better.
Slide 26
In the work context consumer and financial literacy and numeracy are closely linked – you
might recall the slide where it talks about the lack of numerate skills impacting on ones’
employability. In the work context the ability to budget, create financial records, read
financial documents such as invoices, statements and financial reports can be very important.
If you consider the retail and service industries – where so many of our students start their
working lives even when they are still at school again, numeracy demands are great. These
worlds have changed dramatically in the last 2-3 decades mainly because of the increased
digital technologies and now goes much beyond the basic totalling up of purchases and
working out the amount of change to be given. Young people now have to use complicated
cash registers where not only do they calculate totals and change, they monitor sales which
are used for modelling future sales, they work with bar codes that allow for price fluctuations.
The very scale of sales has increased - In supermarkets it is not uncommon to see people with
two full trolleys at the check out. Can you imagine working that out with pencil and paper!
Slide 27
Finally in the Citizenship context consumer and financial literacy comes into play – paying
bills on time; being able to read and understand bills; investing ethically, using credit, saving
and budgeting wisely and responsibly.
Slide 28
However to be numerate in all the above contexts and to be able to use consumer and
financial literacy in these contexts there needs to be competence and confidence in the three
corners of the triangle as well – mathematical knowledge, tools and dispositions. So let’s see
how consumer and financial literacy links to these areas.
Slide 29
Let us start with Mathematical Knowledge. This is a very important area as the students
need this to be able to work with their own money. The ability to estimate, for example, is
particularly important when dealing with money; as are the skills of estimating, operating and
problem solving. This is where knowledge about percentages comes in –their relationships
with fractions so that students can work out how much an item will be if there is a 20% sale
for example. This is also an area where the concept of decimals can be explored using nice
concrete examples – working with cents and dollars.
Slide 30
Moving to Tools. This area is also very important when looking at consumer and financial
literacy. If we move into areas of enterprise some physical tools might need to be mastered –
for example, at a market day, scales, tape measures and perhaps even cash registers or adding
up machines might be used. Then there are the representational tools – think of tables for
budgets, financial records, graphs showing financial trends, reading, interpreting and creating
graphs relating to a multitude of financial trends and issues, symbols and pictures used in
advertising and so forth. Finally, when we look at digital tools – a calculator is probably the
most basically technological one, while the computer springs to mind here with its
capabilities of setting up spread sheets for budgets and keeping financial records, the graph
making capabilities, the research into ethical issues such as fair trading, electronic banking,
mobile phone payments, bill payments, exploring websites to help with consumer and
financial literacy – learning objects for example – simulations of real life financial situations
such as The Real Game..
Slide 31
And thirdly it is necessary to have a positive disposition to use all the maths we know. This
is where Consumer and financial literacy programs can really come into their own particularly if there is a strong focus on the enterprise areas – e.g. organising fund raising
activities – market days, fetes, cake stalls, 24 hour famine. This is that wonderful real life
Mathematics that engages students so well. Most schools do these kinds of things, but how
many consider it an extracurricular activity rather than building it into a vibrant, rigorous part
of their curriculum to support their students in developing their numeracy skills?
Slide 32
So where to from here? I hope this presentation has shown you that consumer and financial
literacy is a very important area to be addressed in your schools and that it is an excellent
vehicle for developing your students’ numeracy skills. I hope it has given you some ideas and
a starting point for creating your own school’s program in this important area. Please visit the
resources section of this course to find out where to go to access some wonderful free
resources to help you in this work.
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