Mathematics + Money = Engagement: Financial Literacy as a Tool to Increase Opportunity and Engagement with Mathematics for Students from Low Socio-Economic Areas: Final Report

Financial Literacy as a Tool to Increase Opportunity and Engagement with Mathematics for Students from Low Socio-economic Areas was a pilot research study developed to investigate whether students’ engagement with mathematics would improve if financial literacy education was integrated into the teaching and learning of mathematics within primary classrooms. The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (ACARA, 2012) includes aspects of financial literacy as part of its content descriptors under the title Money and Financial Mathematics (ACARA, 2016). However, the topic is not treated in any depth, from a financial literacy perspective, or in the context of real-life scenarios that promote active participation and illustrate to students the relevance of mathematics in day-to-day life. One of the most common complaints from students with regard to mathematics education is its lack of relevance to students’ lives outside the school. It is an expectation of today’s students that learning is meaningful and makes sense to them (Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, 2009). This project was conceptualized to investigate if the incorporation of financial literacy based within students’ immediate contexts would create opportunities for students to see the relevance of mathematics in their everyday lives, and therefore promote higher levels of engagement with the subject while increasing their awareness of the importance of financial literacy. The central research question in the project was: Can the use of financial literacy education improve students’ engagement with mathematics within low socioeconomic areas? The project aimed to: Explore teachers’ and students’ perceptions of financial literacy and its links to the mathematics curriculum; Develop contextualised units of work that are derived from students’ interests and needs; and Investigate changes in students’ engagement as a result of the implementation of the contextualised units of work