Numeracy as social practice – current research and empirical approaches

Abstract

Abstract So far, numeracy as part of basic education has only been considered peripherally in the German-speaking countries, regarding the scientific as well as the practical approaches of adult education. In this article, theoretical and conceptual lines of the discourse are linked systematically. In addition, it is argued for an extension of the discourse by including the concept of subject-oriented basic education, which is based on the concept of numeracy as social practice. Initial findings from two research projects, one looking at the use of numeracy by older people and the other one looking at people with disabilities, reveal subjective contexts of justification and meaning as well as the social embeddedness of numeracy.

Keywords

• Numeracy as social practice
• Everyday mathematics
• Basic education
• Participation
• People of older age
• Disability