The language used in education shapes policy, practice, and perceptions. Edge’s series asks, What's in a Word? and scrutinises the impact of the terminology we commonly employ.
Why talk about ‘numeracy’? Wouldn’t ‘maths’ or ‘basic maths’ serve just as well? The distinction we make at the charity National Numeracy, is that ‘numeracy’ is having the skills and confidence to apply basic maths in real-life situations, whereas mathematics is the theory behind the skills that are applied. Written as a formula, this would be: Basic maths skills + the confidence to use them in real-life situations = numeracy. If learning about numbers and data was approached in the same way as a driving test, then learning ‘maths’ would be the theory, and ‘numeracy’ would be the practical application.
However, we know from multiple studies that around half of adults in this country have the functional numeracy level expected at the end of primary school. Additionally, whether or not they have the theory of maths covered, 30% of school-leavers (18-24-year-olds) and 35% of adults say that using maths and numbers makes them feel anxious. One in five adults are so fearful that it even makes them feel physically sick.
Returning to the driving test analogy, preparing people with the theory, but not the confidence to apply it in practical situations, would represent a dangerous risk. People tend to think of numeracy as part of maths, but we see it the other way around: basic maths is just one part of numeracy. Having the confidence to use maths effectively to solve problems and make decisions in real-life situations is every bit as important as acquiring the skills themselves. Our work indicates that around one third of adults do not feel confident with maths, and this lack of confidence disproportionately affects women and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Perhaps this wouldn’t matter so much if maths was a ‘niche specialism’ (and for some reason, maths does have this image in the UK). But it’s not a niche specialism when it comes to its application in our daily lives, whoever we are or whatever we do – whether that’s facing numbers at work, in the news, on our payslip, with children in our care or when managing money. It is feeling able to apply for a new job or training, using a calculator, knowing what to search for online, being able to tell if we get a sensible answer, being confident when planning journeys, understanding what percentages mean, and knowing when an estimate will do. It is quite simply core to navigating our lives.
Being numerate is absolutely not about feeling pressure to work things out quickly or in your head, and it’s not about being afraid to get something wrong or ask someone else for help. It is about having both the skills and confidence to apply simple maths in complex situations, to make decisions and solve problems.
This matters for every one of us. Numeracy has a direct link to social mobility: there is considerable evidence that it can open up opportunities and empower people to thrive across their lives, not least when it comes to accessing careers and progression. It has economic significance too: low numeracy is estimated to cost the UK up to £25 billion each year. That’s an estimated £1,600 in lost wages for someone with low numeracy, as compared to those with basic numeracy, affecting as many as 16 million workers. At National Numeracy, we have found that it is confidence that unlocks people’s ability to use and improve their maths skills.
Low numeracy is estimated to cost the UK up to £25 billion each year
As a charity, we focus on numeracy to highlight that the maths taught in classrooms alone is not enough for many people and that additional wrap-around support is needed in school and beyond, in order to build confidence, address anxieties and enable people to feel equipped for adult life.
Maths has a poor image in the UK. It is the norm to be negative about it, and culturally acceptable to say ‘I’m not a maths person’ or ‘I hate maths’. These attitudes are often inadvertently passed on from parents and carers to children, and the inter-generational cycle continues. We all need to work together to change this, to move towards a positive ‘can do’ attitude towards maths, whereby the mention of ‘maths’ doesn’t evoke images of quadratic equations and trigonometry, but instead conjures up the daily benefits it brings when we’re making decisions at work, at home, supporting the children in our care and managing our money.
Written by
Paul Milner. With a degree in Mathematics and over 20 years’ business management experience, Paul is the Programmes Director at National Numeracy, having joined the UK charity soon after it formed in 2012. Paul has managed the development and launch of the Essentials of Numeracy and the National Numeracy Challenge and oversees the team’s programmatic work to improve numeracy across the UK.
Next time: Our final piece for the second series of What’s in a Word. Joe Davies, Duke Kunshan University, considers the importance of the meaning of ‘feedback’ for student learning.