This study investigates the behaviours, attitudes and experiences of New Zealand secondary students with money and financial products and the range of financial literacy teaching/programmes being taught in New Zealand secondary schools. It also explores barriers to the implementation of financial literacy teaching.
The recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Financial Literacy report showed that New Zealand 15-year-old students were, on average, performing above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average. However, this report also highlighted the large variation in performance, and the large group of 15-year-old students achieving the lowest level of financial literacy proficiency. Combining the findings from the current research with the recent PISA results will provide a more detailed depiction of financial literacy for New Zealand students.
Data were collected through a paper-based survey of Years 9 to 13 students and two online surveys for secondary school teachers and school leaders. A class of students from each year level in their form groups (i.e., classes of students who would not be grouped by ability or a particular subject area) were selected. Teachers were also selected on the basis of one form class teacher per year level, so as to avoid the selection of teachers by their subject area. The leader survey was to be completed by a senior staff member with curriculum oversight or responsibility in the school.
There were 2,646 student respondents from 24 schools; this was a response rate of 26 percent for schools that were sampled to complete the student survey. There were fewer deciles 1 and 2 schools with students who responded to the student survey compared to the sample frame, and more deciles 9 and 10 schools than expected. A total of 196 teachers from 53 schools responded to the teacher survey, and school leaders from 39 schools responded to the leader survey. These schools largely reflected the school decile characteristics in the sample frame, though there were fewer small schools and more large schools than expected.