The “Building Futures” project aims to integrate a basic economic and financial education into the Manitoba curriculum in grades 4-10. Manitoba is the lead province for The Building Futures project. The project is now underway in Saskatchewan and Ontario as well.
The project also aims to help teachers develop students’ enterprising skills – ones that they can apply to any activity in life.
“Building Futures” does not add any new curriculum outcomes or teaching burden on teachers. It aims to integrate target learning related to economic, financial, and enterprising capability into existing courses – attaching the learning to existing learning outcomes.
To do so, educators have developed “Teaching Units” that support the integration of the target learning into existing curriculum. The Teaching Units have been piloted in Manitoba and revised based upon teacher feedback.
The project has “Ten Components” which are the overall learning topics and which can be reviewed by clicking here. (See the left-hand column in the “Lesson Plans” section.)
Each component has three levels of learning which fall, approximately, into the following grade ranges: Level 1 – grades 4-6; Level 2 – Grades 7-8; Level 3 – Grades 9-10. These are summarized in the Learning Framework and Learning Map – that can be reviewed by clicking here. Note that we do not assume that all areas of knowledge, skills, and behaviours will be covered. These provide a “framework of guidance” for teachers.
The aim has been to provide a pathway for developmental learning over the three levels – developing knowledge, skills, and behaviours so that, in various high school courses, teachers will be able to build on the foundation learning achieved in earlier grades and apply such learning to real world challenges and decisions young people will face.
The aim has been to spread the Teaching Units across various grade and subject areas so that no grade or subject area plays a disproportionate role in the Building Futures project. However, nothing will preclude a teacher at any grade level, or in any subject area, from participating as much as they would like.
By Registering, teachers in Manitoba can request a copy of the Building Futures in Manitoba “Teacher’s Kit” (see below). In addition, your school will be added to the list of schools participating. Our goal is to reach at least 80% of Manitoba schools over three years.