Week Five Readings

 Week Five Theme

How literate and numerate are we? And how have we seen children engaging in literate or numerate behaviour? What makes something a literate or numerate experience?

My definition and ideas about Literacy: Literacy is about making meaning, it is about connections and  understanding. Literacy is more than just reading and writing, it is about communicating and receiving ideas, concepts, thoughts, opinions and feelings. This is why literacy incorporates more than just reading and writing, it also includes speaking, listening, gestures, watching, actions, and movement. It  is about communicating to someone, or receiving a communication by someone through visual, oral, and aural mediums. 

My definition and ideas about Numeracy: Mathematics and Numeracy were described to me by a (qualified teacher) friend of mine recently. She described, and had been taught, that maths and numeracy are like a tree, with maths forming the trunk, the roots and the branches, and numeracy forming the leaves. Maths and mathematical concepts are the basis, the foundation, and numeracy is how these concepts are applied to real-world settings. This is how I would like to teach numeracy, applying mathematical concepts to real-world settings to give children a better understanding of what they are learning, and a more productive and useful idea of how to use this learning throughout their lives. In fact, this is how I would like to teach most subjects. 

Reading One:

(2012). Mathematics and Numeracy - Is There a Difference? The Australian Mathematics Teacher, 68(4), 8-11. 

This article was chosen because I wanted to expand on the idea of numeracy being the applied, practical knowledge of mathematic principles and concepts.

'Mathematics and Numeracy' is a short article intended to help clarify the differences between numeracy and mathematics, however, the article also makes it clear that this is a difficult task due the many differences in the way people perceive and define these two terms. The article has two main sections. Section one lists 13 quotes by scholars and government departments relating to mathematics and numeracy. The reader is encouraged to think about these quotes and this about whether they agree or disagree with them. Section two of the article provides 10 examples and encourages the reader to decide whether mathematics, numeracy, both, or neither is being used in each example. 

In doing these two activities I found that I really connected with the third quote:

(B)eing numerate, at the very least, is about having the competence and disposition to use mathematics to meet the general demands of life at home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life. (Willis, 1992)

It's simple and understandable, and aligns with my own ideas about numeracy and mathematics. The same can be said for quote 8: 

Numeracy is a critical awareness which builds bridges between mathematics and the real world with all its diversity. (Johnston, 1994)

In thinking about the examples I further developed my ideas about numeracy and mathematics and decided that numeracy is applying mathematical concepts and principles to relevant, everyday, real life examples or using mathematical concepts and principles in real life situations. Because of this, I decided that you can have and teach mathematics without numeracy, but you cannot have and teach numeracy without mathematics. It is also better to be numerate than to be good at mathematics, the ability to apply knowledge outside of schools should be more important than the grades students receive in schools. 

Reading Two:

Fox, M. (2002). The Power and the Story: How Reading Aloud to Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. Orana, 8(2), 4-8.

This article was found in the 'I can't be bothered finding my own readings section' after initial searches on FindIt @ Flinders did not return articles as interesting looking as this one. This article's description seemed to link up with discussions in the tutorial this week around literacy as making meaning and teaching literacy through everyday activities. 

Mem Fox's point in this speech (given at the biennial conference of the Hunter Children's Services Forum Conference) was to emphasise the benefits found in children by reading to them aloud fifteen minutes a day from birth to school. Fox argues that by doing this with children, they will have either learned to read by the time they go to school or will find reading an easy skill to pick up in their first school year. However, Fox emphasises that parents shouldn't 'teach' their children how to read, because 'the moment we teach is the moment we fail (p. 4). Fox argues instead that 'literacy isn't achieved by a book alone, nor by a child alone, nor by an adult who's reading aloud - it's the relationship winding between all three that beings them together in easy harmony' (p. 6). 

This idea is consistent with my opinion that literacy is about connections and meaning making, with the entire process including, reading, listening, interpreting, thinking, forming opinions, connections and making meaning from a literacy experience being essential in developing literate students. Childcare and preschool teachers and workers can help parents build on children's literacy by incorporating meaningful reading interactions in their centres, whether in large or small groups or one on one teaching.