This paper examines the elements essential to effective teacher professional development (TPD) in financial literacy education by means of a systematic literature review. We provide a theoretical underpinning for the literature review by proposing a revised presentation of an existing general TPD model. Our results provide insight into the student learning goals in financial literacy education, the desirable teaching behaviour, the required teacher quality and the contextual factors that play a role. However, our findings also suggest a lack of studies that systematically investigate whether and how TPD initiatives enhance the effect of financial education on students' financial literacy. Furthermore, existing literature fails to provide insight in how the six key features of TPD should be implemented to optimize its effectiveness.

This study examines whether online teacher professional development (OTPD), in the form of an interactive webinar series that encourages collaborative learning, improves student achievement. We conducted a randomised controlled trial with 1102 students, 45 teachers and 30 secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium. As a basis for the study, we developed a digital learning path aimed at improving student scores on financial literacy–a multidimensional key competence recently integrated into the curriculum. We demonstrate that the learning path improves student learning outcomes and that enhanced teacher involvement in this programme does not increase learning outcomes unless the teachers participate in the OTPD initiative. Teacher engagement in the webinar series generated student learning outcomes 0.39 standard deviations higher than those of students whose teachers did not receive this intervention, thus, confirming the effectiveness of the OTPD initiative. This effect was found immediately after programme implementation, and it persisted until at least 6 weeks later. As an underlying mechanism, we observe that engagement in the webinar series enhances teachers' self‐efficacy. Classroom observations suggest that engagement increases the frequency of providing students with content‐related help.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) studies suggest an association between beta (13–30 Hz) power and reversal learning performance. In search for direct evidence concerning the involvement of beta oscillations in reversal learning, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) was applied in a double-blind, sham-controlled and between-subjects design. Exogenous oscillatory currents were administered bilaterally to the frontal cortex at 20 Hz with an intensity of 1 mA peak-to-peak and the effects on reward-punishment based reversal learning were evaluated in hundred-and-eight healthy volunteers. Pre- and post-tACS resting state EEG recordings were analyzed. Results showed that beta-tACS improved rule implementation during reversal learning and decreases left and right resting-state frontal theta/beta EEG ratios following tACS. Our findings provide the first behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for exogenous 20 Hz oscillatory electric field potentials administered over to the frontal cortex to improve reversal learning.

This study examines the capabilities of in-service secondary school teachers to provide financial education. Data were gathered from online surveys, which were spread among 300 teachers in the Flemish region of Belgium. We distinguish between perceived and actual capabilities. Our results reveal that only one third of teachers consider themselves sufficiently competent to provide financial education. Actual capabilities are assessed using a broad measure of financial literacy, which takes into account teachers’ financial knowledge, financial behaviour and financial attitudes. Our results indicate that only approximately half of teachers score sufficiently on financial knowledge and only a third attains the preferred minimum score for financial attitudes. In addition, our heterogeneity analysis shows differences in scores related to teacher characteristics such as gender, teaching discipline and teaching experience. The large share of teachers not reaching the threshold indicating adequate capabilities for providing financial education raises concern, as teacher quality is an important factor contributing to the effectiveness of financial education. Teacher professional development can play a crucial role here.