Influence of Financial Literacy of Teachers on Financial Education Teaching in Elementary Schools

Abstract

Would teachers' own lack of financial literacy inhibit their teaching financial education in the classroom? Using unique data from a sample of elementary teachers in Taiwan, this paper examines the impact of teachers' personal financial literacy on the effectiveness of their financial education teaching. Our results substantiated that there is a positive correlation between teachers' financial literacy and financial education teaching. Furthermore, elementary teachers underlying this study, as a group, show medium-high levels of financial literacy. Teachers generally believe that current elementary textbooks cannot cultivate sufficient financial management knowledge in elementary students, suggesting the unsuitability of financial education curricular materials for elementary teachers. Finally, the results showed that elementary teachers did not demonstrate significant differences in highest degree earned, college major, number of years teaching social studies, or school location in terms of financial literacy as well as financial education teaching.