Unit 9: Numeracy

This unit will help tutors gain some experience in using numeracy in their tutoring sessions. You may not have many learners in your program looking for specific help with math; however, tutors should be encouraged to participate in the workshop when working with a literacy student since numeracy is part of a well-rounded literacy program. You can use this unit as part of your ongoing professional development for tutors.

Many people experience anxiety when they hear the word math. Even you may experience negative reactions to the word. You may even be thinking there is no way you could deliver tutor training on the subject of math. However, you will notice the unit is not titled Math, but Numeracy.

Some people think that numeracy means basic math, but it actually means more than that. Many practitioners see numeracy as “contextualized practice.” Contextualized practice does include basic math, but there are other important topics to consider. Based on information found at Ontario’s Literacy and Basic Skills Program practitioner training website (included in the bibliography for this unit), these other important topics include

• number and operation sense
• estimation and “mental math” skills
• judicious use of calculators to ease computations
• statistical literacy (the ability to critically interpret statistics in advertisements and articles)
• skills needed to handle functional tasks involving numbers in text, such as schedules, forms and financial statements
• skills needed to plan and optimize resources, such as budgeting, scheduling and managing supplies

You can see that numeracy focuses on how to use information in a variety of ways in everyday life. As our activities change, so does our numeracy. Numeracy is not something you have or don’t have, nor can you say that once you’ve mastered it you now know everything there is to know about it. Rather it is something we are continually learning about.

There are a number of different definitions of numeracy, just as there are a number of definitions for literacy. In fact, the word “numeracy” was coined to fit in with the term literacy.

One definition comes from the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALLS), an international comparative study that measured literacy and numeracy skills in 20 countries. ALLS defined numeracy as the knowledge and skills required to effectively manage and respond to the mathematical demands of diverse situations.