As part of the Centre of Excellence Accredited Programme, Ms. Alison Degabriele has become a strong advocate for integrating financial and ethical skills into secondary education. I spoke to her about his teaching journey, the impact of financial capability on teens, and what’s changed in her classroom since completing the training.
Q1: What motivated you to join the COE training programme?
Alison:
As educators, we know that teaching today means competing with a constant stream of online content, much of which includes financial misinformation that links with the fake news and misinformation topics we discuss during ethics lessons. I joined the program because I wanted to help my students navigate the financial world with confidence and clarity. I also aimed to foster critical thinking, encouraging them to understand that they can create value, not just consume it.
Q2: What was your initial perception of financial education before the course—and how did that change?
Alison:
If someone had asked me this question before I participated in the course, I would have said it was mostly about budgeting, saving, and other useful financial skills that we should teach students to help them manage their money. However, after taking the course, my understanding has not only deepened but expanded. I now see that financial capability is a much broader subject. It includes critical thinking, decision-making, risk assessment, and understanding the wider economy. Importantly, these are everyday life skills that can be integrated into any subject, not just economics or business studies. In fact, I found it very valuable to connect financial capability with ethics education, where it fits perfectly with our learning outcomes.
Q3: Can you describe a successful activity or lesson you implemented post-training?
Alison:
I implemented this topic alongside the learning outcomes but also needs from our Year 7 syllabus.
Part 1
We began to discuss the importance of needs and rights, emphasizing that rights are basic needs. As the lessons progressed, we covered the difference between wants and needs. I led a class discussion where students clearly identified and distinguished between wants and needs.
For this task, we used flashcards. Students enjoyed sorting the cards into wants and needs, which helped create a foundation for the next learning outcome related to financial capability.
Part 2
I then created a PowerPoint with a series of guiding questions to stimulate discussion.
- If you have limited resources, how should you balance spending on your needs versus your wants?
- Should we only consider our own needs and wants, or also the needs of those close to us such as our husband, wife, kids, parents, siblings, and others?
- Is it important to know these differences when making financial choices? Why?
Following this, students worked in groups to discuss scenarios where they had to decide how to allocate a certain amount of money whether to spend on wants, needs, caring for others, saving, or giving it away for charity. The answers for these scenarios were written on the board. Each group then shared their decisions and reasoning with the class. Other students asked questions which created a highly interactive and engaging environment. This encouraged a positive and thoughtful approach to the topic.
Part 3
After the group discussions, we explored deeper ethical questions such as how spending resources on our well-being can be an ethical choice, how spending on contributing to a good cause can be ethical, and how these choices reflect our values as social beings.
These questions helped students understand that ethical spending is not just about satisfying personal desires but also involves responsibility towards oneself and others reflecting the society around us.
I must say, the students really enjoyed these lessons. Weeks after, many came to me sharing how they were budgeting, saving, and thoughtfully managing their money which was very encouraging to see.
Q4: What challenges did you face when bringing these concepts into a secondary setting?
Alison:
The biggest challenge was maintaining relevance. Secondary students tend to lose interest quickly if they do not understand why a topic matters to them. To address this, I focused on making clear connections to their real lives. We discussed various job opportunities and explored how different professions earn varying levels of income. We then analysed spending patterns and introduced the concept of taxes within the context of a welfare state. By using their own world as a lens, the students engaged deeply and meaningfully with the material.
Q5: How do you see your role evolving as a COE educator?
Alison:
My next goal is to collaborate with more teachers and get them on board to develop a money club. This club will be held during the midday break. During this time, students will be able to play the Dilemme board game, where they can learn how to budget and practice certain skills that will always be integrated with the topics discussed. We will come together from different disciplines such as ethics, maths, IT, and any other teachers who join us, in order to bring the subject to life as a whole. This will not be done independently but by merging the subjects together.
I believe this club will be a very engaging, fun, and interactive experience for the students who participate. I am confident it will benefit them in a holistic way.
Q6: Final message to your fellow educators?
Alison:
I’m truly excited about this programme because it’s so much more than just teaching finance. It’s about shaping thoughtful, responsible citizens who can think critically, plan wisely, and take actions that uplift not only their own lives but also their communities. This is a chance to be part of something real and meaningful, to help create lasting change that matters. If you want to make a difference and empower the next generation with values and skills that go beyond money, this is exactly where to start.
Closing Words:
This programme gave me the language, the tools, and the confidence to bring meaningful money conversations into my classroom. It’s not just about numbers, it’s about empowering my students to make thoughtful, ethical choices that impact their lives and the world around them. Because of this, my students are growing stronger, wiser, and more prepared for the challenges ahead.
