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Framing numerate behavior

The Common European Numeracy Framework identifies four key elements – context, content, higher-order skills, and dispositions – essential for enhancing individuals’ numerate behavior. Numeracy skills extend beyond school-taught math to practical, situation-specific applications in daily life.

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CONTEXT: Numerate behavior is always embedded in a context. Some numeracy take place in everyday life such as in daily activities of the individual such as cooking. Numeracy can also be in the context of work and professional settings, ranging from such as simple lists of numbers to complex algoritm-driven applications. The last category is media and public life such as data visualizations such as in news-items and newspapers.

HIGHER ORDER SKILLS: Higher order skills include managing and analyzing situations, but also critical thinking and problem solving. Every individual – whatever his/her cognitive abilities and experiences – uses higher order skills. Everybody makes decisions, reasons, and processes information.

CONTENT: Content knowledge is a component of numerate behaviour. The first four subcategories – quantity and number; dimension and shape, pattern, relationship and change; data and chance – can be found in most frameworks regarding mathematics or numeracy outside the formal school system. The use of (digital) tools and applications is another set of subcategories which nowadays matters to cope with situations in our digitalised society.

DISPOSITIONS: Adult numeracy dispositions evolve from childhood through life, shaped by personal beliefs and experiences with math. School performance impacts attitudes, fostering confidence or anxiety. Positive school math results promote confidence and value in math, while negative outcomes may lead to negative feelings and math-anxiety.