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Financial Education in Schools
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Vind
Posted: 05 November 2019 12:36:02(UTC)
#52

Joined: 23/01/2019(UTC)
Posts: 219
I think it's about ways in, and using current affairs as an entry point to financial education is useful.

Current affairs, throws up useful topics such as interest rates, tax rates, the budget that allows discussion on how such matters affect people and how they live.

We don't need to teach kids "this is a pension", but we do need to look at things like longevity, what the state provides and when, the concept of delayed gratification, the fact that they will be automatically be made to save.

A key thing that happens to lots of kids when they get older and start doing part time jobs is the big week or month that pushes them into NI and tax. When it happened to ours, their reaction was "why does no one teach us how all this works?"

(I did try by the way, but since when do kids listen to their own parents!)
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NoMoreKickingCans
Posted: 05 November 2019 14:05:18(UTC)
#53

Joined: 26/02/2012(UTC)
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Good to see kvl and Tony found the error in that little 1=2 fallacy.
Unfortunately Alan needs to relearn algebra.

My point is really that a lot of this financial education should be part of Maths. It is through maths that we learn how to relate to numbers and how to use numbers. Any good maths teacher is going to use real life type examples in the maths class, as we all know...

Sally has £4.75 and wants to use her money to buy as many 50p marshmallows as possible. How many can she buy and how much change does she get ?

There is nothing to stop budgeting and investing based questions being used in Maths...

Peter has £100 and puts it into a savings account paying 10%pa in interest. How much does he have in the account after 5 years ?
Kylie buys £1000 worth of shares in ABC plc. ABC pays out a dividend to Kylie of £50 per annum. Clever Kylie uses the dividend payment to buy more shares in ABC plc. Assuming the price of ABC shares remains constant, what will Kylie’s shares be worth after 5 years ?
(Bonus mark - why does the question describe Kylie as ‘clever’)
Kylie’s sister Nobut uses her £1000 and takes out a loan for another £1000. She buys a car for £2000. Her loan is at a compound interest of 5%pa and she only has to pay the loan and interest off at the end of 5 years. The car depreciates by 20% each year. After 5 years Nobut sells the car and pays off the loan and interest. How much money does she have after 5 years ?

The facebook generation seem to spend way too much time photographing themselves, and being subject to constant messaging distractions, and way too little time actually reading and thinking. He said idiotically while distractedly typing onto an internet forum read by people he has never met :)
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Alexander Johnston on 05/11/2019(UTC)
Alan Selwood
Posted: 05 November 2019 14:37:50(UTC)
#54

Joined: 17/12/2011(UTC)
Posts: 3,379
NoMoreKickingCans;95298 wrote:
Good to see kvl and Tony found the error in that little 1=2 fallacy.
Unfortunately Alan needs to relearn algebra.


Thanks for drawing my attention to my failure to check my typing when following the original spurious algebraic calculations and creating a parallel set of nonsense algebraic calculations.
I have now (I hope!) redone my original to follow the original algebraic nonsense accurately.

"Let a = b" could be used in the novel 1984 to hide the enormity of the brain-washing deception when poor Smith is asked to count the number of fingers being held up - whatever the number he sees, he is constantly told that his answer is wrong.
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jvl
Posted: 05 November 2019 16:11:08(UTC)
#55

Joined: 01/04/2016(UTC)
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No current affairs or dry loans questions are required.

We could use some imagination and teach even young kids something about money, how wealth is generated and conserved. Think of getting kids to create stalls (shops) selling some goods or services in the classroom, with the teacher and, later, kids, running a bank, giving out loans, paying interest.

Kids practically play like that already. My kids play shops. Just take it a bit further without them realising they're learning.

It's truly amazing that economically right parties don't mandate this kind of thing when they're in power. Left-leaning parties won't. They just want people to make decisions on the basis of pure emotion without consideration of any financial reality.
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NoMoreKickingCans on 05/11/2019(UTC)
Alexander Johnston
Posted: 05 November 2019 16:31:32(UTC)
#56

Joined: 22/09/2018(UTC)
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I was quite impressed with my daughter's GCSE Maths course. She was introduced to measures of central tendency at 11 and standard deviation at 15. I had to wait until I went to University before I was introduced to elementary statistics.
Recently at work some older colleagues asked her what the inter-quartile range was.
She was able to tell them much to their amazement.
I suspect that there are lots of people around who can work out quite complicated maths without actually understanding what they are doing or the reasoning behind the processes at work.
I was reasonable good at Maths (I was reasonable good at all subjects except French and Latin) in the sense that I got the right answer, but half the time I was simply following a procedure and didn't really understand what I was doing.
I only realised what calculus was about when a friend who was studying physics and subsequently worked at Harwell explained it to me in a pub.
Great respect for teachers though. They are out in front of the class performing most of their working day. I suspect most people couldn't do it for a week without having a nervous breakdown.
.
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NoMoreKickingCans on 05/11/2019(UTC)
Alexander Johnston
Posted: 05 November 2019 17:03:01(UTC)
#57

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Apart from engineers and scientists has anyone ever used a quadratic equation to solve an issue at work.
I have.
Once.
It was an equation which simulated the movement of passengers through an airport terminal (I think). A colleague who had a first in Maths had looked at it on and off for a couple of weeks but she had made no progress.
I looked at it and solved it in a matter of seconds. Complete fluke of course. Something simply registered with me possibly because I was looking at it with fresh eyes.
From then on I was regarded as a mathematical genius by senior management.
Of course, I did nothing to dissuade them of their mistaken assessment but simply struck an attitude of modest, understated brilliance.
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philip gosling
Posted: 05 November 2019 17:38:58(UTC)
#58

Joined: 06/01/2013(UTC)
Posts: 1,191
Alexander Johnston;95314 wrote:
Apart from engineers and scientists has anyone ever used a quadratic equation to solve an issue at work.
I have.
Once.




Yes as part of Movements by land -( rail and road) , sea and air as part of Logistics Support of Military Operations, Exercises and training across the world. Anyone involved in Supply and Movements (Logistic Support) of anything will be using those sort of equations whether they realise it or not.

Not sure everybody needs that knowledge at school though! Bring back 'piggy banks', pocket money, premium bond gifts, Junior Isa presents, saving for special presents - all done at home by family members.
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NoMoreKickingCans
Posted: 05 November 2019 18:16:32(UTC)
#60

Joined: 26/02/2012(UTC)
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Alan, There is nothing wrong with “Let a=b”, the only problem with the ‘proof’ that 1=2 is the division by zero. When asserting “let a=b” it just means a and b are two unknowns declared to be equal, it doesn’t mean they can be any two unequal numbers.
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jvl
Posted: 05 November 2019 18:23:38(UTC)
#59

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Alexander Johnston;95314 wrote:
Apart from engineers and scientists has anyone ever used a quadratic equation to solve an issue at work..


I worked in a Yorkshire pie shop once with a guy called Zero Mostel.

In the very first takeaway he did, in his eagerness to please, he slipped over and hot scalding pie landed in his right eye. Now, although he was from Brooklyn and of East European Jewish origin, Zero was the kind of lad who wanted to respect local customs. And he knew a bit of local lingo. So, instead of crying out in pain or swearing coarsely, in his broad Brooklyn accent he cried "EE BY GUM!". And sat there on the floor, a big piece of pie covering one eye like a monocle.

The shop, which was full, went silent as everyone stared at him. Then all of its delighted customers fell about in hysterics before retaining their composure and standing to applaud young Zero. This episode of minor adulation inspired him to quit the pie business and go into acting. He later found fame playing the main character in the movie "Fiddler on the roof"

Just saying e to the pie eye, takeaway one, made Zero.
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Tim D on 05/11/2019(UTC), Tony Peterson on 05/11/2019(UTC), NoMoreKickingCans on 05/11/2019(UTC)
Tony Peterson
Posted: 05 November 2019 18:38:50(UTC)
#61

Joined: 10/08/2009(UTC)
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The most profound, unexpected, and disturbing numerical relationship ever discovered
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jvl on 06/11/2019(UTC)
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