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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.

Sec. Teacher Education

Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1628635

Financial Education Through the Lens of the EduFin Framework: Comparing two Pedagogies in Primary Education

Provisionally accepted
Giovanna  AndreattiGiovanna AndreattiDaniele  MorselliDaniele Morselli*Monica  Adriana ParricchiMonica Adriana Parricchi
  • Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Introduction: Financial literacy is increasingly recognized as essential for personal and societal wellbeing, yet its effective integration in primary education remains underexplored. This study examines the application of the European EduFin Framework in evaluating two financial education programsone based on cooperative learning, the other on game-based learning-in an Italian primary school. Methods: Employing a case study design, two fifth-grade classes participated in tailored financial education modules. Each session concluded with focus groups, and pupils' reflections were subjected to qualitative content analysis. Learning outcomes were mapped against the EduFin Framework using convergence and divergence matrices to assess alignment with targeted competences. Results: Both pedagogical approaches primarily addressed the "Money and Transactions" domain of the EduFin Framework, with limited coverage of "Risk and Reward." While the framework facilitated systematic evaluation and comparison of program content, findings indicate it emphasizes knowledge transmission over broader competence development, particularly regarding social and collaborative skills. Discussion: The EduFin Framework offers valuable structure for assessing financial education initiatives but may constrain holistic competence development due to its individualistic focus. However, integrating active, student-centred pedagogies-such as cooperative and game-based learning-can help foster social skills and deeper learning, partially overcoming these limitations. Conclusion:The study highlights both the utility and constraints of the EduFin Framework in primary education, underscoring the need for pedagogical approaches that balance content mastery with competence and social skill development.

Keywords: financial education1, competence frameworks2, primary education3, cooperative learning4, gaming5, Program evaluation6

Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 04 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Andreatti, Morselli and Parricchi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Daniele Morselli, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy

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