On achieving a definition of Numeracy: hard word ahead
Photo by morebyless on Visualhunt.com / CC BY When I started delineating numeracy in my mind, a definition along the lines of numeracy is the attainment of a number sense wherein one can encode and decode information given through numbers came to mind. Upon learning that numeracy is but one component of a much larger concept, that of ML (mathematical literacy), I reformulated my working definition of numeracy, to state that numeracy would then be an element of ML, one more related to quantity than to number sense and the result of a structural design of teaching practice. On that occasion, I also made a mental note to highlight the idea of insight as necessary to the computational/algorithmic aspect for a full numerical command. But when I learned about the idea of math anxiety and how it shapes much of our collective numeracy development, I had to enlarge these two working definitions to encompass the affective domain involved in dealing with quantities for practical purpo