Financial Literacy Resource Centre
Original report
Gaps in resources
Very few people indicated gaps in resources with reference to the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Core Curricula and the Adult Financial Capability Framework1, as can be seen in the table in Appendix 4. The following comment perhaps answers why few completed this section of the questionnaire:
‘There are probably sufficient resources out there – the difficulty is in finding out about them, being able to review the content and finally afford them’.
The mapping exercise which accompanied the audit (see section 6 below) may help provide the necessary information to help with judgments as to the suitability of resources.
Several did comment that there were not enough resources for teaching financial skills to those at Pre-entry and Entry 1/2.
‘Financial Literacy materials not yet available for learners at Pre-entry yet this topic is very relevant.’ ‘I feel there is a need for more entry level resources – at the moment we have to adapt the resources to the lower levels.’
Similar comments were also made during training delivered related to the Adult Financial Capability Framework1, during 2003. The Adult Financial Capability Framework1 shows that the underpinning literacy and numeracy skills needed for the skills, knowledge and understanding of the Basic level of the framework to be at Entry 3. This could explain the lack of resources available in that there are only a small set of financial skills related to handling money that can be covered if a person’s literacy and numeracy skills are below Entry 3. There are some resources available to cover these money handling skills e.g. the Skills for Life Teaching and Learning materials published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). However, at Pre-entry and Entry1/2 practical activities are far more appropriate than paper based resources and what is perhaps currently missing is an equivalent for adults of the book ‘Money Counts’, for primary school teachers, giving ideas of activities to undertake to teach a range of financial skills, including handling money.
There are already some plans to address the gap as the NOW project in Belfast is developing a Money Management Programme with an accompanying workbook to be registered with OCN as an accredited course at Pre-entry and Entry Level one. The booklet will be ready for publication and launch by December 2004.
Types of teaching and learning materials that are useful and that are needed
Organisations were asked which types of teaching and learning resources they found useful and would welcome more of. The table below shows the results ranked by usefulness ( where ‘very useful’ =2 and ‘useful’ =1), including columns to show the percentage voting for each type in this audit and in the NFER report4 (in Table 3 not all the options given in this audit were given in the NFER research).
More than one response could be given
In Table 3, one of the main differences to be seen is in the change from the use of textbooks for mathematics/business studies to the use of basic level materials, this may be due to which departments responded to the questionnaire in each survey. This may also account for more people finding materials produced in house useful.
Table 4 shows there is a change indicated in the type of resources needed with more indicating a need for ideas for class activities rather than worksheets for independent study (Is this a result of the Core Curriculum training?). Case studies are now seen to more useful and in particular the demand for presentations by speakers from outside organisations has greatly increased. This could be because organisations are beginning to see the benefits of working in partnership and sharing areas of expertise.
4: Types of resource needed
More than one response could be given.
The comments below bring life to the statistics above.
‘The case study in the Financial Capability framework proved useful to show the connection between financial capability and basic skills. I think it would be useful to produce a leaflet (fourfold) - like the Survival Skills in the Workplace series - showing the everyday financial literacy tasks across the inside and inside that ‘What skills?’ – listing the literacy, language and numeracy skills
‘I have been teaching in a library setting where there is not access to videos. Because the building is multifunctional there is limited space for resources so we have had to prioritise what we can work with. The library has computers which can access the internet. Learners have been particularly pleased to have a go on BBC Skillswise activities which develop their maths and financial literacy in everyday situations. We do have access to laptops with CD ROMs and headphones so Money Go Round and Money Power have also been useful. All numeracy learners (of different levels) have been issued with their own learner packs of the Skills for Life Resources. They have enjoyed working through these as a group or individually in class and then carrying out reinforcement tasks at home. My learners will tell you that they are visual learners and they like resources that stimulate and reinforce this.’
‘I have found that many of the resources available look too ‘school like’ for adult groups. Also resources produced are so quickly out of date. I prefer real-life resources and adapt task/ activities to match these. It would be very useful to have some worksheet activities available in Word format to alter as necessary, e.g. to reflect price increase etc.’
‘The CD ROMs for ‘Money-go-Round’ and ‘MoneyPower’ are fantastic and it is such a joy to see maths materials that are put into a real context, giving students crucial/life changing skills that they really do need in every day life.’
‘The more practical activities are the better they can be related (and customised) to learners’ everyday lives.’
‘The means of attracting people to classes is urgently needed or self-study materials. We know there are plenty of potential learners, but getting them ‘though the door’ is problematic.’
‘It is helpful to have worksheets covering the same topic at different ability levels.’
Table 5: Topics for resources to cover (‘Very useful’ =2 and ‘Useful’=1)
More than one response could be given.
Topics from two tables in the NFER research4 were used in the questionnaire to give as full a list as possible and insurance was added in. Unfortunately the poor response rate for Table 7.4 makes comparisons for some of the topics difficult. The top 3 topics are the same now as in 1996 with ‘Hire purchase/credit’ now coming in slightly above ‘Coping with debt’ in 4th and 5th places, perhaps reflecting the increasing concern nationally over the level of indebtedness due to the use of credit cards. ‘How to use a bank’ has also become important with the change to direct payment of benefits.
The following topics suggest other areas to look at. Information on Islamic banking and its approach to borrowing and lending money can be found in the leaflet ‘Islamic Finance - Teacher’s Notes’.
‘Essential that we also cater for people from different cultures so that we cover the ethics of interest charges. Need publications aimed at a whole family approach. Might be useful to link Financial Literacy in with projects on Healthy Eating could contact the Salvation Army and Radio 4s Food Programme. Need clear links between being financially literate and being able to feed and clothe the family.’
‘Not enough mention of credit unions in literature produced.’
The following comment raises a valid point that the topics that are important now may alter in the future and how would organisations know so that they can react in a co-ordinated way and resources shared.
One way of overcoming this problem would be to use the Bulletin Board within the Financial Literacy website hosted by the Basic Skills Agency www.money-bsa.org.uk to alert others to new areas of need.
‘Can we tell if suddenly hundreds of people have problems with say – mobile phone tariffs and bills and how do we respond?’
