What is ‘numeracy’ in Australia.
The concept of ‘numeracy’ seems to have changed and been adjusted many times in the last 50 or so years. The various interpretations all seem to include understanding and applying maths in contexts which are mostly practical. Brian Doig shows the Australian Association Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) came to the conclusion that it is both “distinct from literacy” and “more than number sense”. From my readings of international views of both ‘numeracy’ and ‘Quantitative literacy’ all seem to point to something around a ‘year 10′ or ’school’ understanding of maths, but there seems to be no clear definition of ‘numeracy’ even while there are studies and politics that seem to relate to ‘numeracy’. Without a clear definition of ‘numeracy’ is there then no clear outcome for educators to aim for in schooling?
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You make a fair point about having a clear definition for educators to focus outcomes upon. I like to think that everyone in the educational community has a general common understanding about what is meant by numeracy. This to me is demonstrated in the definitions presented in the readings all being different wordings of what i see as the same idea.
You’re onto something with a common definition for everyone to work with, we might even use a similar argument to the one for a national curriculum!
Posted March 3, 2008, 1:39 pm