This paper reports a study of children's out-of-school learning in the context of economic activity. The study drew on theory from the economic psychology literature, from the mathematics education research literature, and from research on out-of-school learning.

The majority of research on the development of children’s economic thinking has focused on understanding the ways in which children’s activity and thinking comes to resemble that of adults (Gudmunson & Danes, 2011). However, researchers have also identified a need to study of children’s economic development and socialization in its own right, independently of adult involvement (Webley & Lea, 1993). Although it is relatively challenging to carry out, such research has started to reveal the extent to which children construct their own understanding of economics through independent activity. This study aimed to increase understanding of children’s economic socialization by carrying out an in-depth qualitative study of 9-10 year-old children’s out-of-school economic activity in two schools in a city in the south-west of England.

Research on children’s economic socialization also has interesting potential links with mathematics and STEM education research, and with research that has explored boundaries between formal and informal learning (e.g. Bevan et al., 2012). Previous research has shown than a good deal of informal mathematics and science learning takes place in the context of everyday economic activity, but that this is often not captalised on by teachers. Children often find it difficult to make links between their out-of-school lives and learning, and their classroom learning (Hughes & Pollard, 2006), while teachers are often unaware of the informal learning that could potentially function as a resource for formal mathematics and science learning. Some researchers argue that for this reason, research and understanding of out-of-school learning represents an important equity issue (Bell, 2012).   

The study reported here was designed to address a number of interconnected research questions:

What activities are 9-10 year-old children engaged with out-of-school that contribute to economic socialization and informal mathematics learning? Answers to this will contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the ways in which children develop economic understanding. They will also help us to build knowledge of the informal mathematics learning that children bring to school that teachers can build on during formal mathematics lessons.

What links do children make between their informal, out-of-school, learning, and the learning that they engage with in the classroom? The research literature shows that children often find it difficult to make links between the mathematics classroom and their everyday lives. We are interested in finding out whether this process can be facilitated by building a richer picture of children’s out-of-school activity before encouraging them to make such links.

Is there evidence for differences in the kinds of out-of-school activities, and informal learning, that children from different schools are experiencing? We are interested in the diversity of experiences and activities that children are engaging with outside of school. If there are differences between schools in the kinds of activities, thinking, and learning that children experience, then these are likely to have implications for teaching and learning in schools.   

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