THE CANADIAN FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION

1. “JUMP$TART COALITION”General Partners, Board, and State Coalition Leaders MeetingNovember 5, 2010Capital Hilton HotelWashington, D.C.Gary RabbiorPresident, Canadian Foundation for Economic EducationWebsite: www.cfee.org e-mail: gary.rabbior@rogers.comPhone: (416) 968-2236 Fax: (416) 968-0488

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Topic of high international interest and activity – and things are changing and evolving very quickly e.g. implications for Building Futures

6. KEY POINTS TO NOTE AND SHARE 1. FINANCIAL CAPABILITY VS FINANCIAL LITERACY - MORE TO COME ON THIS

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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 ….

10. 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.

12. 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.

13. KNOWLEDGE VS BEHAVIOR Budgeting Example Focus on “behavioral outcomes” What target behavioral outcomes are most desirable?

14. 6. IMPLICATIONS FOR TARGET AUDIENCE - Younger children and grades - Behavior development vs Modification - “Marshmallow” - Need for research – target outcomes and strategies to inculcate

15. 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

16. 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”

17. 9. PARALYSIS OF CHOICE - Purchase decisions - Saving decisions - Credit card decisions - Investment decisions - Retirement decisions - Insurance decisions

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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

22. BACK TO #1 – FINANCIAL CAPABILITY VS FINANCIAL LITERACY IMPLICATIONS FOR EVALUATION TARGET OUTCOME – THE “FINANCIALLY CAPABLE PERSON”

23. 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?

25. Our challenge, in the end … OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE

26. In terms of Financial Capability, hopefully our OPPORTUNITY IS NOW HERE! Thank you!