Financial literacy is a debated concept and field of knowledge. There are various interpretations regarding what the financial literacy education should contain and aim for. This study focuses on financial literacy and how it is presented in various teaching materials intended for Swedish upper secondary school and the subject of social studies. The purpose of the survey is to analyze what appears to be important financial knowledge and how the content is presented. The survey also aims to examine what kind of “ideal citizen” that the materials seek to create. To examine this, I use the citizenship conceptions outlined by Westheimer and Kahne. The analysis shows that the teaching materials convey similar content despite being produced by different providers. There are, however, some differences in what aspects the various teaching materials highlight and choose to focus on. Income, expenses, budgeting, loans, savings and debts are recurring themes in all teaching materials. These can therefore be interpreted as important financial knowledge. The content is mainly presented in an explanatory and normative way. The analysis reveals that the three citizenship conceptions "the personally responsible citizen", "the participatory citizen", and "the justice-oriented citizen" are expressed in almost all teaching materials. However, the citizenship conception that predominates and is particularly evident is "the personally responsible citizen". The overarching goal appears to be to educate students to become responsible citizens who manage their finances, plan, budget, save, avoid unnecessary loans and debt, and make effective and responsible decisions. The content of the teaching materials largely mirrors the OECD's definition of financial literacy and has generally a strong focus on individual financial behavior, responsibility and choices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-129845 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Bengtsson, Ingrid |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för statsvetenskap (ST) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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