Financial Literacy Resource Centre
Original report
6. Findings from mapping exercise
In addition to finding out which resources organisations find useful and where there are gaps it was felt important to look at existing resources to see which skills, knowledge and understanding they covered for literacy, numeracy and financial literacy. Where materials were already mapped to the Adult Financial Capability Framework1 and/or the Adult Literacy/Numeracy Core Curricula5 these references were used. If no mapping had been undertaken then the materials were mapped according to level and skill area.
To answer the need expressed at training events and reflected in the following comments a brief summary was written for each resource and details given to aid with ordering. The resulting document ‘Financial Literacy Resource Guide’ is available on the Financial Literacy website – www.money-bsa.org.uk.
‘Thank you for sending out this list of resources. Although you are requiring information from us, having this information collected together like this is actually very useful to us as we can see that there are other resources out there that we have not yet accessed.’
‘I would LOVE to know more about these resources (esp. costs, as I would like to approach my Manager for some of these).’
‘Most of the resources we have seen have been very good and useful. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time to look through them and match activities to the individual learner.’
‘There is so much stuff out there and little in the way of a unified approach. Resources are available but scattered – and then they have to be adapted. It would-be great if it could all be consolidated so that a clear and uniform message was being delivered.’
‘Thank you this has given me an insight into what actually is available out there!’
Having undertaken the mapping exercise, the coverage of the Adult Financial Capability Framework1 and the Adult Literacy/Numeracy Core Curricula5 was considered to see if there were any gaps in the resources available. A total of 64 resources were looked at, including many of those referred to within the questionnaire. The graphs below highlight that the majority of resources are available at Entry 3 and Level 1 of the Adult Literacy/Numeracy Core Curricula5 and at Basic and Developing level of the Adult Financial Capability Framework1. This not only reflects the current emphasis on Skills for Life but also quite rightly provides resources for working at the levels where there is most need in terms of numbers. However, as came out earlier in the questionnaire, there are a shortage of materials/ideas for working with individuals who desperately need to acquire the skills to handle money and the Pre-entry/ Entry 1/2 literacy and numeracy skills needed before being able to tackle the Basic level skills of the Adult Financial Capability Framework1, which requires Entry 3 literacy and numeracy..
Literacy through Finance
Looking at the resources available for teaching literacy through finance, it can be seen that there are a lot of text based resources available and the area that needs covering most is speaking and listening, especially given the importance of speaking and listening when sorting out personal finances, whether it be seeking help from Citizens Advice, shopping or visiting the bank or Post Office®. Comparing the height of the bars to those in the ‘Numeracy through Finance’ bar chart it can be seen that there are a lot more resources available for the teaching of numeracy through finance. This is perhaps because financial skills are seen as a useful context for numeracy, whereas it is less likely to be seen as a context for teaching literacy. The comment below suggests that opportunities are being missed for helping people to become financially literate if they are asking for literacy courses and finance is not seen as a possible context.
‘So far our Skills for Life clients have asked for literacy, not numeracy courses.’
It is also worth noting that the resources for literacy are spread more evenly over the sections of the Literacy Core Curriculum5 than is the case for numeracy. In fact, there are virtually no resources for teaching Shape & Space (MSS2) and Probability (HD2). This is because whilst numeracy skills are very important for managing finances it is only a small set of numeracy skills that are needed, i.e. the four rules of number and decimals, fractions, percentages, using money, reading data and a basic understanding of probability (N1, N2 and parts of MSS1, HD1 and 2). Interestingly there was no one contextualised resource available that covered the numeracy needed for personal finance.
Numeracy through Finance
With regard to financial literacy skills, the area of need in terms of resources are components (h) Consumer rights, responsibilities and sources of advice and (i) Implications of finance. Both these are within the section ‘Financial Responsibility’. This may be the result of many resources being written to teach numeracy through finance and therefore not touching on the area of financial responsibility. This needs bearing in mind for the production of such resources in the future if we want people to be financially capable as well as numerate
Financial Literacy Skills
