Why involve parents in personal finance education?
Why involve parents in personal finance education?
Communicating the importance and relevance of personal finance education to parents and carers is a challenge for schools, but it’s worth pursuing. Although it can be a sensitive issue, discussions about money within family contexts can bring considerable benefits to pupils. Parents and carers are in a unique position to aid their children’s understanding of finance; they can give examples of how it is managed in a household and can answer questions that are inappropriate to ask in other situations.
Parents provide a pool of first-hand experience in financial matters, including budgeting, saving, managing debt, planning for capital purchases, judging value for money, preparing for life after work and living on a high or low income.
They can reinforce key messages about financial capability, and their inclusion leads to parents being better informed of what their children are doing in school. This means parents can contribute to their children’s learning through complementary activities and a better dialogue can take place between teachers and parents.
Many of the financial issues discussed in school, for example pocket money, savings and planning for a holiday, are based on connected activity between pupil and parents. Much of the personal finance education learning undertaken by pupils in school can be taken home and shared with the family – both children’s attainment and parental awareness can therefore be increased through a closer relationship between the school and parents.
Sensitivity
Parents are more likely to get involved in a programme if they feel they are not expected to divulge personal information or become the focus of anything that will embarrass them. Money and finance are sensitive areas of life that need careful handling within the classroom, and parents should be made aware that it is being handled with sensitivity.
An effective way to avoid problematic situations in lessons or activities dealing with money matters is to establish ground rules for discussion, especially if pupils themselves contribute to their development. Clear ground rules will help to minimise embarrassment, avoid inappropriate disclosures and prevent potentially offensive comments.
Parents should be made aware that this practice is in place, and how these ground rules enable pupils to talk or write about financial matters without the need to make personal disclosure about family circumstances. Further to this, assessment and reflection should focus on the achievement of planned learning objectives and never judge the worth or value of an individual pupil or their family.
How to involve parents in personal finance education
How can schools bring parents and carers on board with respect to developing financial capability in pupils?
- Keeping parents and carers informed through newsletters, consultation on pupil progress and curriculum-information events.
- Parental involvement in curriculum working groups where issues of value and lifestyle can be looked at in detail.
- Inviting parents and carers to assemblies, presentations and off-timetable activities, either as spectators or as volunteer helpers.
- Homework activities in which parents and carers are encouraged to work with pupils to give opinions and answer questions about handling money can lead to beneficial discussions at home.
- Parents and carers with financial expertise may be willing to give short talks or answer questions about specific aspects of the subject.
- Suggest joint tasks for pupils and parents such as jointly preparing a budget for a holiday or comparing press and high street offers for best value.
Such interaction allows a school to obtain views on the issues that are relevant to families and parental impressions of their children’s learning. In particular, parental involvement can provide opportunities for parents or carers to take part in tasks with their children, giving children the chance to find out more about their family, and parents the chance to play an active part in their child's learning.
Working away from the classroom places the pupil in a real life context where they can examine various areas of their family’s lives that they themselves may have to deal with in the future.