Promotion of FINancial Literacy in primary and secondary EDUcation through gamification and DIGItal storytelling (DigiFinEdu)

Promotion of FINancial Literacy in primary and secondary EDUcation through gamification and DIGItal storytelling (DigiFinEdu)

Cross-country reports show that, on average, EU citizens have inadequate levels of Financial Literacy (FinLit). Across EU member states, FinLit competencies level vary from 71% to 13% (European Banking Federation, 2020).

This translates in insufficient knowledge of basic financial concepts, resulting in poor financial strategies and decisions, such as:

  • Bad allocation of lifetime resources;
  • Low planning and saving;
  • Low awareness in terms of borrowing decisions;
  • Higher risk of indebtedness.

The teaching of FinLit since early ages becomes essential to counteract the diffusion of such ineffective and dangerous habits among young people. However, many EU Member States do not teach FinLit before secondary education. In addition, although it has already been put in place national strategies to address the teaching of FinLit, these strategies often give considerable discretion as to whether and how to incorporate this subject into lessons, creating a wide gap among EU states.

Unfortunately, it also appears that teachers are lacking adequate competencies to FinLit, as proved by several self-efficacy studies (Harrison et al, 2019; De Moor and Verschetze, 2017).

Finally, different researches clearly demonstrate the important role that parents play in determining not just FinLit competencies of their children, but also their interests, behaviours and attitudes towards money. A 2018 PISA survey shows higher proficiency in FinLit among 15 years old students that have been taught or given financial responsibilities by their parents. Increasing parents’ involvement into the education of their sons and daughter is pivotal to improve the efficacy of schools teaching.

Project period: 01.02.2022 – 31.01.2024

Project No.: 2021-1-LT01-KA220-SCH-000034366

Erasmus+ program: KA220 – Cooperations among organizations and institutions in School education

Target groups: Primary and early secondary education teachers, students, parents

Stakeholders: Public authorities, education experts, researchers, school staff

Aim and objectives: DigiFinEdu mainly aims to increase primary and lower secondary education pupils’ (8-12 y.o.) FinLit in order to help them become financially resilient adults. To reach this general objective, the project will also aim to the attainment of the following 4 specific objectives:

  • To promote the implementation of FinLit in primary and lower secondary education;
  • To improve parents’ and teachers’ competencies in the teaching of FinLit;
  • To increase the inclusion of parents in their children’s education process;
  • To raise awareness on FinLit education policies and strategies on a national and international scale.

Results: DigiFinEdu foresees the realization of three main Results (R):

- R1: DigiFinEdu Methodological Material. This result will consist of an eBook providing a thorough account of the current context on FinLit education at national and transnational level and an innovative FinLit teaching practice for teachers and parents.

- R2: DigiFinEdu Didactical Material and Testing. R2 will include at least 10 modules with lesson plans, material and instructions for teachers, parents and students. The goal is to provide ready-made teaching material that can be implemented immediately into school and at home. This result will also be tested throughout project period.

- R3: DigiFinEdu Visual Novel. R3 will be dedicated to the creation of an educational videogame on FinLit, combining digital storytelling and gamification methodologies. The game will be developed as a “Visual Novel” with decision making and interactive elements.

Project partners:

1. Raseiniai Saltinis Progymnasium (Lithuania)

2. Public institution "eMundus" (Lithuania)

3. Foundation for the Development of the Cultural BPOCS (Bulgaria)

4. AKOE (Spain)

5. CREF (Portugal)

6. Youth Initiative Center (the Netherlands)

 

Project Reference Nr. 2021-1-LT01-KA220-SCH-000034366

Project website: digifinedu.eu

Project facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Digifinedu