Dewey, Freire, & Kolb -- Financial Education's Purpose: Financial Literacy for One's Lived World

Overview & Synopsis

Traditional approaches to financial education -- with curricula and strategies designed by a developer oftentimes disengaged from the lived-worlds of all the students - increasingly populate the literature. For example, characteristics of participant, venue, timing, and content are chronicled that when analysed, result in on-going disappointing behaviour. In light of the shortcomings of traditional curricula and strategies, strategically combining the seminal theories of John Dewey, Paulo Freire, and David Kolb, the purpose of this paper is to conceptually outline a lived-world, experiential approach to contemporary financial education, financial literacy, and their behavioural objectives. Because experiential learning has been successful in myriad other education settings, its application in financial education in pursuit of financial capability (i.e., education, literacy, and access) is proposed. Through the employment of educator roles, the paper seeks to refocus on the purpose of education specifically, to teach the student to learn and think.