NIRAKN Seminar - Financial Literacy Education Practices

Join us for a NIRAKN Seminar presented by Dr Levon Blue, QUT, entitled:

Financial Literacy Education Practices: Moving Towards a Praxis Approach

Financial literacy education (FLE) is of critical importance, with current economic times having led to an opportune moment for teaching financial skills, capabilities and practices. Increasingly complex financial markets, the shift to self-funded retirement and widespread growth of alternative or predatory financial services are some valid reasons for FLE. In this seminar, Levon shares findings from her PhD study that explored the FLE practices in a Canadian Aboriginal community as a case study. The relevance and importance of FLE in this Community was explored after a widely used financial literacy train-the-trainer workshop failed to gain traction. She argues that conventional of FLE is premised on individual wealth accumulation practices that view wealth inequality a matter of choice and a result of ‘effective’ financial decision-making. Instead, she puts forward a praxis approach to FLE that allows for critical thinking and includes other influences, such as the recognition of culture differences (some with less of a focus on wealth accumulation) and the impact of poverty in financial decision-making. This praxis approach will be demonstrated by identifying the practice architectures the enable and constrain financial decision-making including predatory financial practices in both Australia (the practice of mortgage broking) and Canada (the practice of cheque cashing).

Dr Levon Blue is a Lecturer and National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN) coordinator in the Indigenous Research and Engagement Unit at QUT. Her PhD study explored the financial literacy education practices in an Aboriginal community in Canada (that she is a member of) as a case study. Levon has research experience working: in an Aboriginal community; with primary schools teachers (involved in an ARC Discovery project focusing on fostering positive learning identities in inquiry based mathematics classroom); and, on financial education related projects in the Business School. She has also taught classes to undergraduate pre-service teachers including: education and society (social justice focus), lifelong learning, philosophy and ethics for educators, and communication and has recently taught research capacity building workshops to postgraduate students.

Where: Indigenous Research & Engagement Unit, Room B309, QUT Kelvin Grove Campus
When: Tuesday, May 8
Time: 1:45 pm for a 2:00 pm start