The Importance Of Numeracy In Education

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Numeracy is skills within mathematics, and involves all aspects, not just numbers. The ability to be numerate involves having the skill to work with numbers, and be able to understand all aspects of mathematics that help with practical demands, in all features of everyday life (State of New South Wales (Department of Education), 2015). Numeracy bridges the gap between the maths that we learn in school, and the contexts it is used in, in everyday life. It can be argued that students develop numeracy as a result of all the mathematical experiences they learn in and out of school. Success in early mathematics has lifelong significance in students. Number sense in education is the basis for understanding any mathematical operation, by being able …show more content…

According to National Numeracy (2014), there is substantial evidence that low numeracy skills are associated with poor outcomes in employment, wages, health, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and school exclusions in later secondary education. If students do not obtain numerate skills from the beginning of their schooling, it is known that they will struggle with harder maths in future years, as they cannot understand the …show more content…

When teaching number sense there should be multiple posters and visuals around the classroom accessible for students at all times. Positive energy and constructive criticism so that students are not afraid to learn, whole class participation and group activities where all are involved, are more ways of developing better understandings. Teachers should have knowledge of what is being taught, of the teaching strategies, such as questioning, grouping, planning, assessing, and general factors that may impact the learning. Lastly, teachers need pedagogical content knowledge of the ways of representing and formulating the subject so that is it comprehensible to others, knowledge of what makes a specific topic easy or difficult to learn, and the preconceptions that students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them (State of Victoria, department of Education and Early Childhood development,