• Numeracy refers to the aggregate of skills, knowledge, and dispositions that enable and support independent and effective management of diverse types of quantitative situations. (2)

• Numeracy is a critical awareness which builds bridges between mathematics and the real world, with all its diversity.(3)

Most recently, the Numeracy Working Group of the International Life Skills Survey (ILSS, described in the next section; the survey is also known as the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills survey, or ALL) has tentatively defined numeracy as: (4)

• The knowledge and skills required to effectively manage the mathematical demands of diverse situations. (5)

According to the Numeracy Working Group:

• Numerate behaviour is observed when people manage a situation or solve a problem in a real context; it involves responding to information about mathematical ideas that may be represented in a range of ways; it requires the activation of a range of enabling knowledge, behaviours, and processes. (6)

Each of the components of this definition will now be considered. In actual situations, the concept of numeracy varies according to the content of its components. Numeracy in one context for one person for one set of purposes will be different from numeracy elsewhere. Everyone's concept and experience of numeracy will be different, even if only slightly.

Each of the components of numeracy has different aspects or dimensions, as follows:

Purpose and Context

People solve problems and manage situations in a context with reference to a set of purposes. General contexts and sets of purposes include: (7)

2 Iddo Gal, 1993; from ILSS Numeracy Framework, p. 9

3 Betty Johnston, quoted in the ILSS Numeracy Framework, p. 13.

4 The following discussion briefly summarizes the relevant portions of the ILSS Numeracy Framework, which provides an excellent and extensive treatment of this subject.

5 ILSS Numeracy Framework.

6 ILSS Numeracy Framework.

7 ILSS Numeracy Framework, pp. 16 17.