Custom Programs:
Financial Life Skills

Presented by Grant Wildman (BEd Grad Dip Counseling)
and Trevor Wright for Dramatic Solutions

Rationale
Curriculum
Aims and Objectives
References for this Seminar

Rationale

This 2-3 hour seminar conveys information about financial life skills related to credit, independent living and buying a car. It is aimed at year 11 students and delivered in a gripping, interactive, and motivating way.

These seminars have been created because the topics of ‘credit’ and ‘money management’ appear all too rarely as part of any compulsory curriculum in our schools and yet students are intimately involved with them. Some of the topics touched on may be covered by teachers with such an interest and particularly within applied mathematics areas yet not all students are exposed to activities to develop what should be considered as basic competency skills for these areas. The concepts and knowledge surrounding the use of money are becoming less ‘concrete’ as technology provides the means for cashless transactions. Students need to have the opportunity to understand the principles and mechanisms involved in this rapidly evolving facet of everyday life.

The seminars are built on an educational philosophy that presumes the best way to educate in this context is to acknowledge and then build on what students already know whilst providing an experiential learning environment which is interactive and motivating. During these seminars students will be recognised as participants in the topics being explored with a degree of expertise in the subject matter. This expertise will be identified and used as a resource to teach others.

Curriculum

These seminars were originally written to provide the means by which three major areas of finance could be explored by year 11 secondary students in South Australian Secondary Schools.

These areas are:

Unit A is seen as fundamental while units B & C build on and apply information from Unit A. The times have been designed to be flexible in order to cater for the variations of timetabling in different schools.

Aims and Objectives

A description of the aims and objectives of each unit follows.

References for this Seminar

Here's what one school had to say about the Financial Life Skills seminar:

Brief feedback comments from many of the staff who assisted with supervision, along with unsolicited comments from the youngsters themselves, have all reflected extremely positively on the content and methodology of your presentation. . . [A] parent contacted the college today expressing their thanks for the way their child learned so effectively from the seminar and discussed with them so openly some of the major points dealt with during the session. Thanks once again for your time and the learning provided, Geoff Yeand (Careers Counselor, Pedare Christian College, July 2nd, 1998)

The following schools have used this seminar and you are welcome to call the contact person for further information.