Difference between numeracy and mathematics: Why does numeracy matter in the 21st century?

Difference between numeracy and mathematics: Why does numeracy matter in the 21^st century?

While at first glance, the terms numeracy and mathematics seem to be indistinguishable, there is an important difference. For the contemporary educator, knowing the difference between the two is vital for teaching 21^st century skills to their students.

            First of all what is numeracy? One definition is that numeracy entails the ability to deal with the quantitative features in real life situations (Goos, Dole, & Geiger, 2012). Steen (2001) goes further to explain that self-assurance in using mathematical concepts, logical thinking and ability to use mathematics in real world applications are the main elements in numeracy.

            On the other hand, mathematics generally only refers to a particular field of study that includes dealing with specified operations and numbers that make quantities easier to understand. Mathematics can also be divided into sub-categories such as algebra, geometry or calculus.

            The main difference between the two concepts then is that mathematics is a subject, and numeracy is the ability to understand mathematical concepts, which helps people deal with maths related situations in other subjects in school or in their daily lives (Steen, 2001).

            A school based example would be a student using learning maths skills and concepts in a mathematics class, which is a field of study, while using those skills in another context such as understanding graphs in economics, or adding up purchases when going shopping would mean the student was numerate, which means an ability to understand and apply mathematical skills in many different contexts. A real life example is a student using mathematics skills to create a budget for a shopping trip, thereby proving that they are competent in numeracy.

            So now we understand what mathematics and numeracy means, but why is it so important to be numerate in the 21^st century? A factor to consider is that jobs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) fields are expected to grow significantly as the 21^st century unfolds (fig. 3), with increasing automation and use of artificial intelligence (Burns, 2016). Students who are competent in numeracy will be well positioned to take advantage of those growing industries.

             

           

                       

Figure 3. STEM involvement in future jobs. Reprinted from Kilvington Grammar School. Retrieved from http://kilvington.vic.edu.au/2017/08/steam-the-new-stem-2-0/

The term “21 century skills” gets mentioned a lot when talking about numeracy, but what does it actually mean? While there seems to be no consensus on a concrete definition, a broad idea can be reached with some research. One definition of 21^st century skills is being able to fully exploit digital and information technology, as the use of digital and information technology is expected to increase dramatically as the 21^st century progresses (Prensky 2001). From an educational viewpoint,  21^st century skills is the ability to use multiliteracies to solve problems in a range of situations, whereas in times past, subjects were more likely to be taught separately and not encouraged to be used holistically (Cope & Kalantzis 2009).

In conclusion, the difference between mathematics and numeracy is that mathematics is a variety of tools comprising a subject, while numeracy is the ability to use those tools to be able to understand and work with numbers. Numeracy is an essential skill for the 21^st century, not only for the obvious dad to day applications, but also because of the increasing importance of digital technologies and ever increasing proportion of STEM related jobs. Numeracy is also an element of the term “21^st century skills” which encompasses the digital skills needed for the new technologies of the 21^st century as well as the holistic application of multi-literacies to better solve problems.