The Bank of Canada Museum’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Economics

Teacher at Bert Fox Community High School in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan

Bringing history to life is a goal of many teachers, but to teach applicable economic concepts at the same time is a win-win situation for any educator.

Andre Boutin Maloney taught his financial literacy class to be teachers themselves. His students developed an interactive trading post simulation that combined Indigenous history and ingenuity with many economic principles.

Students learned about Canada’s fur trade, the roles of trapper and trader, economic concepts such as free markets and supply and demand, and social issues related to perceived value and industrialization. They then created a game to exchange beaver pelt tokens for cards representing trade items. But, of course, there was a catch. Each card came with conditions that could help or hinder a trapper’s efficiency, allowing players to better understand the economic and social challenges fur trappers faced in pre-Confederation Canada.

Andre’s students made sure the game was accessible to younger learners. Then the middle school students ran it with those learners at Fort Qu’Appelle’s Treaty 4 Gathering, creating opportunities for peer learning and strong community engagement.

Teacher at Murdoch MacKay Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Can you teach economics to kids while simultaneously benefitting the community? Seems like a big challenge, but it turns out you can do just that.

Kim works with an Indigenous Academic Achievement class. Their classroom name is Mino-pimatisiwin, or "the good path," a space where learning centres on sharing and generosity. Her winning project began as a student-led initiative to raise money for a women’s shelter—and do it during the economically challenging holiday season. So, they started a trading post.

Using all of their creative skills, the students made crafts and cultural gifts to sell in their post. They faced head-on such issues as business contracts, sourcing supplies, labour, advertising, multiple payment methods and currencies. They also learned key economic lessons about free and mixed market economies.

But above all, Kim’s students experienced Indigenous understandings of shared wealth and community assistance while learning to become entrepreneurs themselves.

Elementary school teacher at Elijah Smith Elementary School (Whitehorse, Yukon)

When entrepreneurial spirit and economics combine, great things can happen. Especially if you’re selling something as delicious as hot chocolate.

Alysha’s class designed their own hot chocolate business—brand, logo, slogan and all. The students began by comparing prices for ingredients and then purchased their supplies with a small business loan of $20. Planning and prototyping were followed by a weeklong sale to peers. Amid the fun, students learned about budgeting, price comparing, and compound interest. 

Creating this entrepreneurial activity was a formative experience for the students. Alysha introduced many larger concepts within the activity. Students had conversations about income tax through their budgeting and learned about the role of branding and advertising through their own trial and error. Students used play money for their transactions which ensured an equal playing field for all. Alysha’s teaching demonstrated the incredible role real-life learning can play in introducing economic and financial literacy.

High school teacher at Vancouver Technical Secondary (Vancouver, British Columbia)

How do you teach the complexity of the economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic when it’s happening in front of your student’s eyes? Gamify it. 

Chris’s students conducted background research and game development to create a COVID-themed board game “COVID-19-opoly.” This inquiry project involved students parsing out the news and reflecting the economic realities of the pandemic in a fun and informative way. Masking, lockdowns, subsidies and food delivery were all elements in the game.

Students explored urban markets, household budgets, social reform, the role of the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and impacts on international trade and the supply chain. Throughout the learning Chris incorporated teaching on economic thinkers including Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Malthus, Keynes and Hayek. Given the challenges of the global pandemic, Chris brought real-world experiences into the classroom and helped his students develop resiliency and imagine a better future.