the canadian foundation for economic education

““JUMP$TART COALITION”JUMP$TART COALITION”

General Partners, Board, and State Coalition Leaders MeetingGeneral Partners, Board, and State Coalition Leaders MeetingNovember 5, 2010November 5, 2010

Capital Hilton HotelCapital Hilton HotelWashington, D.C.Washington, D.C.

Gary RabbiorGary RabbiorPresident, Canadian Foundation for Economic EducationPresident, Canadian Foundation for Economic Education

Website: www.cfee.orgWebsite: www.cfee.org e-mail: gary.rabbior@rogers.com e-mail: gary.rabbior@rogers.com

Phone: (416) 968-2236 Phone: (416) 968-2236 Fax: (416) 968-0488Fax: (416) 968-0488

THE CANADIAN FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION

Established in 1974. Non-profit, non-partisan, charitable organization

- Sister organization to the (National) Council on Economic Education

GOALS

To improve economic and financial capability to enable economic and financial decisions an actions to be undertaken with confidence and competence

To help level the “opportunity playing field ” re efforts to build a successful future

CFEE is active in four future-building areas:

C areer Development – finding work, earning income

F inancial capability – handling money

E conomic capability – understanding realities – making informed

choices

E ntrepreneurship and Enterprise Education

GOAL TODAY

Share some information re international developments

Highlights and summary – possibility of implications for your work

e.g. OECD, Aflatoun, Commonwealth Secretariat, Inter-American Development Bank, various leading countries around the world

- Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, …

Global Working Group

Task Force on Financial Literacy in Canada

Topic of high international interest and activity – and things are changing and evolving very quickly

e.g. implications for Building Futures

KEY POINTS TO NOTE AND SHARE

1. FINANCIAL CAPABILITY VS FINANCIAL LITERACY

- MORE TO COME ON THIS

2. NATIONAL STRATEGIES

Recent focus for many countries – Developing a “National Strategy”

[Summaries for UK, US, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand available if interested – gary.rabbior@rogers.com ]

Currently - Plateau – where next? – e.g. UK

3. THE EDUCATION CHALLENGE

Education is a high priority for all – but, in virtually all cases, national governments do not control what happens in the schools

Difficulty in reaching and engaging other target audiences – economically disadvantaged, out-of-school youth, seniors, ex-military, etc.

Struggling with strategies and relationships to get it into the schools

- Building Futures Model

- Aflatoun Global Learning Framework

4. The “Financial Capability” Challenge

So many are interested – so many are trying

So much money is being spent

However, the pathway to success may be different than many might expect

or envision

To explain ….

Let’s give you a test.

“Tests” – a check on whether knowledge has been successfully transferred.

Retention, of course, is a whole other issue!

Your test?

Pick the figure that does not belong.

Focus on maximizing “rightness” – the most obvious right answer

Little incentive for creativity

Processing information – and, for the most part, disposing of it as they leave.

5. KNOWLEDGE VS BEHAVIOR

Budgeting Example

Focus on “behavioral outcomes”

What target behavioral outcomes are most desirable?

6. IMPLICATIONS FOR TARGET AUDIENCE

- Younger children and grades

- Behavior development vs Modification

- “Marshmallow”

- Need for research – target outcomes and strategies to inculcate

7. KNOWLEDGE IS STILL IMPORTANT

– but unlikely to drive change with knowledge

– needs to complement, not lead, learning

– engagement is key – life-relevant

– demand for knowledge is more powerful than supply

8. IMPLICATIONS FOR HOW MUCH WE TEACH

- Telling is not learning- Similar to “disclosure”- Takes time – especially to learn from mistakes- Different learners- “Lessons from Doha”

9. PARALYSIS OF CHOICE

- Purchase decisions- Saving decisions- Credit card decisions- Investment decisions- Retirement decisions- Insurance decisions

10. EMPOWERMENT – KNOWLEDGE OF SELF

- Self-esteem – perception of self and capabilities- Self- efficacy – belief in one’s ability to accomplish tasks- Self-confidence – willingness to act and assume

responsibility- Self- awareness – knowledge of self including attitudes to risk, goals, and life priorities

11. EDUCATION VS EXTERNAL AND PAST INFLUENCES

- Emotional registry – how people have come to feel about things and how emotions affect behavior and decisions

- Habitual Routines – what people have done in the past and become comfortable with

- Social norms and customs

- Parental influence and behaviors they have been exposed to

12. POWER OF INCENTIVES

- Much behavior is affected by incentives – pursuit of reward or benefit – or to avoid penalty or punishment

- Overwhelming imbalance in favor of incentives to spend – and spend now

- Need to think about, and generate, new incentives to improve the balance

- Needs to be a high priority for policymakers – e.g. housing in the U.S.

FOUR KEY ELEMENTS

- Consideration of Trade-offs and Opportunity Cost – today and in the future - encourage a “thoughtful pause”

- Confident enough to ask questions, assume responsibility, and act

- Know how to access reliable sources of info and advice

- Importance of economic education too

BACK TO #1 – FINANCIAL CAPABILITY VS FINANCIAL LITERACY

IMPLICATIONS FOR EVALUATION

TARGET OUTCOME – THE “FINANCIALLY CAPABLE PERSON”

We live in an opportunity filled world for some – and a stress and anxiety filled world for others.

We believe that disparity in economic and financial capability/literacy is a contributing factor to growing

economic disparity and inequities in opportunity

What does our future hold in store unless we do something to alter the path we are on?

Our challenge, in the end …

OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE

In terms of Financial Capability, hopefully our

OPPORTUNITY IS NOW HERE!

Thank you!