From Symbols to Systems: Currency as a Tool for Global Citizenship Learning

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 11:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Financial Literacy and Numeracy Across Ecological Levels: Examining Global, National, Local, and Home Discourses of Financial Education

Abstract

This paper explores how financial literacy education can support global citizenship and multicultural awareness in teacher education. Through a workshop involving 200 teacher candidates in Ontario, participants analyzed banknotes from 30 countries to examine how currencies function not only as economic tools but also as cultural and political texts. The study found that teacher candidates recognized banknotes as reflections of identity, power, and ideology, and engaged in interdisciplinary discussions about exclusion, representation, and belonging. The workshop encouraged a shift from individualistic to collective understandings of financial literacy. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates how everyday artifacts can promote culturally responsive, critically engaged, and socially meaningful approaches to financial numeracy education.

Authors

• Rosalia Cha, University of Toronto - OISE

• Emmanuelle LePichon-Vorstman, University of Toronto

• Alexandre Cavalcante, University of Toronto