What happens when financial literacy is embedded in the classroom: an interview with Braden Cobb

Braden Cobb, an international school teacher working in Singapore, recently won the Pearson International School Teacher Awards 2024 Outstanding Innovator of the Year award for his work teaching financial literacy to primary age students. He’s a passionate advocate for integrating financial literacy into daily classroom life to boost students’ maths skills. 

But Braden’s financial literary system wasn’t designed to have that effect. In fact, it started out as a behaviour management system. Let’s find out what inspired Braden to create his own classroom economy, and how his students responded. 

An unexpected career choice

Braden’s professional journey into teaching began unexpectedly. Initially a finance major and mortgage broker, he faced limited career opportunities due to the financial crisis of 2008, and decided to go with a friend’s casual suggestion to teach English in South Korea. Despite initial reservations, he discovered a passion for teaching that kept him in South Korea for nearly a decade, teaching various age groups from nursery children to university students, and completing a Masters in education along the way. 

Braden’s teaching philosophy was inspired by his memories of his favourite teachers at school, who used humour to make classroom activities engaging. His experiments in financial literacy started during his time as an international school teacher in China, and he developed his system further when he moved to Singapore and started working with Year 5 students. 

A behaviour management system where students have responsibility 

So, how did this system work? Braden explains that everyone participated in the classroom economy. Each child had their job to do and everyone was ‘paid’ $50 at the end of the week if they did their job correctly. They also paid $50 rent on their desk. “I explained to the kids that they’d be living paycheck to paycheck unless they could find a way to earn more money,” Braden says. “I also told them that if they could earn more money, they could save it up and we’d have an auction at the end of the month. I wanted them to think creatively, and most importantly have fun.” 

He decided to add an option so the children could invest money in classroom items and get a 10% rate of return every Monday. “I told them they could buy anything in the classroom - and one of my students said, ‘Mr. Cobb, can we buy you?’ I told them I was pretty expensive, but they could buy a share in me - and that’s how Mr. Cobb’s stock came about.” Whenever a student went above and beyond in class, they would be rewarded with a Mr. Cobb stock for good behaviour. 

“The value was some derivative of what I weighed that morning, so they knew the stock would always range between $9 and $10.” Braden says. He quickly noticed a dramatic impact on his students’ behaviour as they became more engaged and motivated - so he decided to create stocks for all the attributes he wanted his students to work on; being kind, working independently, thinking creatively and so on. 

Developing the classroom economy

“It just ballooned from there,” Braden explains. The stock value fluctuated based on a roll of dice, mimicking real-world market volatility, and the kids started manipulating the stock market too. “That happens in real life as well,” Braden says, “so I let it go. But then the bank ran out of money. I didn’t want to print more money as I hated printing and laminating the money - so I decided to create bonds.” 

As the stock and bond markets developed, Braden added other elements like inflation, fines, bonuses, compound interest, a lottery, and taxes. The precise calculations needed for these financial mechanisms meant that students were continuously applying their maths skills in a practical context. “That’s the beauty of the stock market and the investments,” Braden says. “It has them working with addition, subtraction, multiplication, percentages and decimals and place value. Some of the maths I was doing with them wouldn’t usually be introduced until secondary school.” 

The practical application of these mathematical principles in managing their classroom finances made the concepts more relatable and understandable. But the impact of the classroom economy extended beyond academics. 

How financial literacy builds important life skills 

The classroom economy taught the students more than financial concepts. It helped them to develop valuable life skills such as leadership, communication, self-management, and collaboration. “I had a student who wanted to donate some of his income,” explains Braden, “and I said, ‘Sure, that’s corporate social responsibility, and you get a tax break.’ So that became popular.” 

Braden also found a way to incorporate peer-to-peer learning to support the students who weren’t as good at maths. “I would say, ‘Look, you’re doing really good at maths. If you help this student, I’ll pay you and you can open up your own tutoring business helping kids with their maths.’ So I delegated and got the students who were doing really well to mentor some of the kids who were struggling.” 

Students became entrepreneurs, hired employees, and even offered services like health and travellers' insurance within the classroom economy. These activities provided practical lessons in entrepreneurship and risk management, all grounded in mathematical problem-solving and critical thinking.

Embedding financial literacy in the curriculum 

The classroom economy proved popular not just with students, but their parents too. “Parents went to the Head of the school,” says Braden, “and asked for the financial literacy element to continue the following year.” But when he asked other teachers about the barriers to teaching financial literacy and incorporating this sort of programme in the classroom, he found that a lot of them didn’t feel they could teach it, as they didn’t have the resources or time. 

To address these challenges, Braden developed financial literacy courses that could be embedded within the existing curriculum, focusing on life skills and practical applications. His aim was to create a system where students could see the relevance of what they were learning and apply it in meaningful ways. 

This innovative approach to teaching financial literacy demonstrates the profound impact that practical, engaging systems can have on students. By creating a classroom economy that mirrors real-world financial systems, Braden empowered his students with essential life skills and a deep understanding of financial concepts, all while significantly enhancing their proficiency in maths.

Further reading

Find out more about our Pearson International School Teacher Awards and meet the 2024 winners.