Context counts: the potential of realistic problems to expose and extend social and mathematical understandings

This article reports the findings of research involving more than 30 teachers and their Year 5 and 6 students in 16 Victorian primary schools. The participants experienced an educational intervention where the “Money and Financial Mathematics” substrand of the “Number and Algebra” content strand was taught and learned through challenging worded mathematical problems involving realistic financial contexts. Data related to one such example, a task involving three friends sharing the cost of movie tickets and food, are discussed. Insights into the nature of student financial literacy and the implications for mathematics teaching and learning are examined.