2. CHAPTER 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework 13
2.2.3. The Mathematical Literacy Purpose and Philosophy
There are several features that have been identified as creating a distinct and clear difference between ML and mathematics. This can be traced back to the very definition of ML in the subject statement document which reads as follows:
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“Mathematical Literacy provides pupils with an awareness and understanding of the role that mathematics plays in the modern world. Mathematical Literacy is a subject driven by life-related applications of mathematics. It enables pupils to develop the ability and confidence to think numerically and spatially in order to interpret and critically analyse everyday situations and solve problems” (DoE, 2003, p.9).
According to Venkat (2010), “the emphasis in ML is on developing the skills needed for a range of adult life roles - becoming „a self-managing person, a productive worker and a contributing citizen” (Venkat, 2010, p.54). It is with this very emphasis that critiques of the ML curriculum, which tend to compare it to mathematics, find points that they use to discredit the introduction of ML. For example, there is a cry that ML “lacks the overt mathematical progression across the three grades that comprise the FET phase (Grades 10 - 12)” (Venkat, 2010, p.54). These critiques assert that there is repetition of the same Assessment Standards (AS‟s) across the three grades. However, Venkat (2010) argues that it is the very nature of ML that is the reason for this lack of overt mathematical progression. A further support of the argument is that the repetition of the same AS‟s across grades requires that “emphasis is (should be) on increasing complexity of the situation” (Venkat, 2010, p.
55). ML is seen as a subject whose main aim is to prepare learners for later adult roles. Whilst its structure is purely mathematical, “attempts have been made to incorporate life preparation orientation into the structure of the curriculum” (Venkat, 2010, p. 55).
There has been tendencies to compare ML in the South African context to other conceptions of mathematical literacy internationally. Venkat (2010) reiterates the assertion by Jablonka (2003) that numeracy and quantitative literacy are different from what ML in South Africa is all about. The former, international conceptualisations of mathematical literacy focus on the ability to think mathematically. However, according to Venkat (2010) “the South African version (of ML) differs in terms of its relatively limited emphasis on mathematical development”. (Venkat, 2010, p. 56). The same sentiment is echoed by Bansilal (2012) when she says that “the subject ML is not about learning more mathematics, but about developing skills that will enable them to participate (and not be excluded) in situations which use numerically based arguments” (Bansilal, 2012, p. 2). Bansilal further notes that the intention in ML is to help learners not to feel intimidated by various presentations of data in the real world. This in turn will make them want to be informed better before they make any decision on, for example, a purchase that they intend to make.
Having highlighted the above, one of the issues of concern becomes the considerations that are to be taken into account when teachers are trained to teach ML. The role of the teacher in a ML classroom becomes central in the sense that the only form of assessment used in ML is
23 the writing of examinations. Being a subject that is driven by context, teachers have to be aware that familiarity with certain contexts is relative. What is familiar to one class, to one set of learners, is not/will not necessarily be familiar to the other. This brings to mind the domain discussed earlier, of Knowledge of Content and Students, as identified by Ball et al., (2008), where they stress that a Mathematics teacher should know what motivates her/his learners and always be wary of the choice of examples to be used in a Mathematics classroom. In the same manner, task design in ML becomes a crucial aspect to consider.
It is further noted by Bansilal (2012) that the nature of ML is more suitable to tasks that learners engage with over an extended period of time. She further argues that “it is likely that purposes of ML are compromised by the country‟s fixation with assessments by examinations” (Bansilal, 2012, p. 19). This fixation, she argues, puts some learners at a disadvantage, as they fail to recognise important issues and information given about the context provided. Time constraints of the examinations in South Africa hampers the would be performance of some learners had these tasks been given to them as projects, assignments, investigations or even oral presentations. Venkat (2010) concurs with this idea when she states that the teacher in her study was “encouraging her pupils to make sense of the problem situation as it stood at various stages of their working” (Venkat, 2010, p. 61). Clearly, the intended outcome would not have been achieved if these pupils in the study had been made to write 2-3hours examinations in order to be assessed. Venkat (2010) proposes that between mathematics and ML there exists a “differentiated emphasis on the mathematical and situational terrains” (Venkat, 2010, p. 65). She further points out that due to its nature, ML is not concerned mainly with making sense of the mathematics but to the contrary, it (ML) is concerned with making sense of the situation presented in the problem.
ML in the South African context involves three aspects namely: content (mathematics);
context (life-related applications); and the abilities and behaviours (confidence, thinking, interpreting, analyzing and solving) exercised by a mathematically literate human-being (Bowie & Frith, 2006; Brombacher, 2007; DoBE, 2011; Vilakazi, 2010). There is an emphasis on these three perspectives being interwoven, and it is this very nature of the subject that poses challenges both to those who teach it and those who learn it. This is quite distinct from the version of ML in the United Kingdom (UK), which is referred to as Numeracy. The emphasis on numeracy (in the UK) is on the ability to use mathematical knowledge and understanding, skills, intuition and experience when a need arises in life- related daily activities. However, ML in the South African context “must provide learners
24 with the opportunity to demonstrate both competence with Mathematical content and making sense of the world” (Debba, 2011, p. 31).