Economic Literacy Activity Pack

Debt and Development Coalition Ireland:
All Hallows,
Grace Park Road,
Drumcondra, Dublin 9
Ph/Fax: + 353 1 857 1828
e-mail: ddc@connect.ie

Written by Emily Kawano
Institute for Popular Economics
Email: e@kawano.freeserve.co.uk

Introduction to Economic Literacy

A. What is economic literacy?

Economic literacy means having a basic understanding of how the economy works. Most people find economics boring or intimidating, or maybe both. They tend to think that it is an area that is best left to the 'experts.' The truth is that the economy is much too important to leave to these so-called experts. The truth is that we are all a part of the economy - workers, unemployed people, consumers, care providers, rich, poor and in-between. We all live the economy; we enjoy its benefits and suffer its failures and therefore we should have some say about how it works - what are the rules, who decides, who benefits.

In this resource, economic literacy, or popular economics, as it is also called, seeks to:

1. Demystify the economy so that people develop a sense of ownership over the economy rather than ceding it over to the so-called experts.
2. Strengthen people's capacity to participate and engage in action for social change by empowering people with the skills and analysis that are fundamental to participating in economic debate and decision making
3. Create a participatory and non-intimidating learning environment. Popular economics assumes in its approach to learning that both participants and facilitators have things to teach and to learn.
4. Use a political economy analysis in which the economic, political, social/cultural spheres are treated as inextricably interwoven with each other.

B. Aims of producing this resource, audience

This economic literacy activity pack has been produced as a teaching resource for people and organisations who are interested in leading trainings or even just strengthening their own understanding of economics. As a resource produced by the Debt and Development Coalition, it reflects the Coalition's interest in the issues of international debt and development, as well as the economic model, policies and institutions that underlie these issues.

No background in economics is assumed. It is intended to be user friendly. We have tried to use plain language and avoid jargon whenever possible. When we do use technical terms, we always try to define and explain them. Terms such as 'neo-liberalism,' 'macroeconomics' may be off-putting, but are used because they are part of the basic vocabulary that one needs to engage in economic debate.

C. Teaching Methodology

Many people find economics either quite intimidating or boring. It is critical, therefore, to defuse these fears and create an engaging environment. Popular economics also seeks to help people take action and become involved in economic issues. The teaching methodology used in this resource is in the spirit of the popular education approach of Brazilian educator and activist Paolo Freire . We believe that both participants and facilitators in a workshop have things to teach and to learn. We try to engage in dialogue - problem posing, discussion and exchange - rather than what has been called the banking method of education in which 'deposits' of information are made into the passive learner. While there are times when it makes sense to provide an input on certain topics, we would try to lighten an input with an exercise through which people can process, explore, and critique the information.

Sometimes tensions arise due to different learning styles. Some participants prefer a pure input approach because it covers more ground, while others feel that this is an alienating and ineffective way to learn. We try to strike a balance, erring in general on the side of participatory processes. Economics is off putting enough as it is - experience has shown that for most community learning environments, it's very important to give people a chance to actively engage with the material. We try to ground economics with the experiences of the participants by drawing out the links between people's lives, their communities, and the 'big economic picture.' The style is highly participatory, fun and non-intimidating; it includes a mix of small group work, theatre, role plays, drawing, games, discussion and presentations.

One of the goals of this learning process is to strengthen people's capacity to participate and engage in informed action for social change. Ideally, each action in turn leads to more questions, lessons, discussion, exploration and further action. In fact, when talking about topics such as globalisation, debt, or transnational corporations, participants can come away feeling more overwhelmed, powerless and discouraged than when they came into the classroom. It is critical therefore, to build in a reflection/action component in which participants can reflect on and process what they've learned and relate it to their own lives and work. They also have a chance to learn about ongoing campaigns and organizing, and develop their own ideas for social change.

The economic analysis in this resource is in the tradition of political economy in which the economic, political, and the social/cultural spheres are treated as inextricably interwoven with each other. Mainstream economics often attempts to treat the economy as something natural, with laws of motion that can be modelled and predicted. But the economy is not a natural law like gravity or a chemical reaction. It is made by people - it is a social construction and thus is carved by history, greed, culture, and power struggles along various line such as class, race, gender, religion, empires, nations, ethnicities, ideologies. There have been many different economic systems and the capitalism of today is relatively young. It is important to remember that there is nothing inevitable about the capitalism. It can be reformed or it can be transformed. Into what? That is a question that we shall explore and that the participants must decide for themselves.

D. Workshop design

One of the biggest challenges in facilitating a popular economics workshop is time. It seems like there is never enough of it. Time is devoured in all kinds of ways: people get wrapped up in debate, small groups need more time, a skit turns into a full length production, an input gets stretched out by questions and discussion, and people always take a little extra during breaks and lunch. The facilitator always has to try to strike a balance between allowing enough time for real participation, debate, and sharing versus covering a certain amount of material. In the interest of meeting the needs of the group, it is important to try to be flexible. This might mean throwing out a suggestion to the participants about cutting some material, or cutting back on break time, and seeing what is most agreeable.

Due to the participatory nature of popular economics, the size of the workshops should be kept relatively small - a nice working size is between six and fifteen. When numbers get up around 25 it can start to get pretty difficult. Keep in mind that the time needed for participatory exercises will vary quite a lot with the size of the group.

We recommend that workshops start with the usual elements found in participatory workshops: welcome, introductions, agenda review, ground rules. The hopes and fears exercise gives the facilitator a chance to find out what participants hope to get out of the workshop and also what fears to be particularly sensitive to. Because economics can be very scary for people, it is really important to give people a chance to voice their fears. If you have time it can be helpful to review the hopes and fears at the end of the workshop as a kind of check-in. Were people's hopes met, were their fears allayed?

E. Pick-me-up exercises

Finally, there are a number of pick-me-up exercises that you can throw in to wake people up - drowsiness often sets in after lunch and mid-afternoon. Some of these are explained below:

Big wind blows: a great exercise that gets people moving and laughing - a West Virginian version of musical chairs. You'll need some free floor space. Make a circle of chairs. Remove or turn around any extras. Have everyone sit down. The facilitator stands in the middle and says "Big wind blows for anyone with … blonde hair" - then just the blondes plus the person in the middle have to get up and try to get a new seat. If the person in the centre just says "Hurricane" then everybody has to get up and try to grab a seat. The only thing that is not allowed (besides resorting to violence) is moving to the next seat over. The person who is stuck without a seat must then stand in the middle and say, "Big wind blows for anyone who …" You can make it topical - like "big wind blows for anyone who ever worked in a fast-food restaurant" or "has worked for an NGO" or "worked abroad."

Circle massage: good for working out the stiffness from sitting all day. Form a circle. Tell everyone to turn right, put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them and give a gentle massage. After a minute or so, reverse direction.

Name toss: good for helping people learn each others names. You'll need something soft and easily catchable - not too bouncy or you'll spend half the time chasing the ball. A child's bean bag toy works well. Have people stand in a circle. The first person with the ball throws it to someone on the opposite side of the circle. That person says his/her name, and other details if you want to use it for introductions, and the thrower must remember that person's name. The second person throws to someone on the opposite side of the circle, the catcher says his/her name and so on until everyone has introduced themselves. In the next round the ball is tossed around in the same pattern, except that this time the thrower shouts out the name of the receiver as s/he is throws the ball. After a couple of rounds, when people have gotten the hang of it, you could throw in a second and even a third ball, following the same pattern.

Whisper down the lane: variation on the old children's game. Make a sitting or standing circle. The first person very quietly whispers a sentence to the person next to him/her. The second person whispers the same sentence to the next person and so on until the whisper has made a complete circle. The last person says the sentence (or what's left of it) out loud. The variation here is that the sentences should pertain to something that has been discussed in the workshop. For example: "The Bretton Woods institutions include the World Bank, the IMF and the U.N." or "Free trade is underpinned by the theory of comparative advantage." or "Currency devaluation makes exports cheaper but imports more expensive." It's up to the imaginations and recall of the participants.

Web: not exactly a pick-me-up, but a quick and lively way to explore most any subject.
Put a large piece of paper up on the wall - a piece cut from a roll of wallpaper lining works well or tape together two sheets of newsprint.
Write a topic such as unemployment, poverty, hunger, in the middle of the paper. Ask participants to give causes and effects. Write down the comments with arrows to show if it's a cause or an effect - some will be very ambiguous or the arrow may run in both directions. Don't worry about being too precise. People can also point out linkages between causes and effects, knock-on effects, etc. After a few minutes you'll have a big tangled web of interconnections. This should be an energetic, free flowing exercise that gets out ideas, thoughts and realisations.
Be warned that once the momentum gets going, it could go on forever. You'll just have to cut off the exercise when the time is up.
On the following page is an example of a web using poverty as the central theme.
Web exercise with Poverty as the central theme