National Consumer and Financial Literacy Professional Learning Strategy

Action 4: On-going Professional Learning

Implement strategies that will ensure consumer and financial literacy professional learning support
for teachers in the longer term to improve student outcomes.

Read the full Strategy...

Financial Literacy - A self-assessment for schools

Embedding consumer and financial literacy within the whole-school curriculum requires commitment to ongoing support for professional learning. This requires a multifaceted model, with coherent strategies at school, system and sector levels. The Alignment for Transformation Model – Raising the Stakes: From Improvement to Transformation in the Reform of Schools by Caldwell and Spinks identifies how schools acquire and utilise different kinds of ‘resources’. These resources are referred to as capital: intellectual capital, social capital, spiritual capital and financial capital. Good Governance, the process through which a school builds such resources and aligns them to achieve its goals, is a way to change school culture.

Intellectual capital refers to the level of knowledge and skills of those who work in or for the school, all of whom should strive to be at the forefront of knowledge and skill. Examples include provision of professional learning for teachers; provision of research data to highlight contemporary issues of consumer and financial literacy; promotion of leading practice models for consumer and financial literacy professional learning; and exploration of opportunities to embed consumer and financial literacy skills within core areas of future curriculum models.

Social capital refers to the strength of formal and informal partnerships and networks involving the school, parents, community, business and industry. It involves all individuals, agencies, organisations and institutions with the potential to support and, where appropriate, be supported by the school. Examples include inviting local businesses, chambers of commerce and industry to support the enterprise dimension of the Framework; building partnerships with professional associations to support and train staff to integrate consumer and financial literacy education; and establishing school clusters and cross-sectoral networks to promote and incorporate consumer and financial literacy within the whole school.