EDFD454- Curriculum Literacies Meaghan Ryan- S00117036

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RATIONALE FOR LITERACY AND NUMERACY
PART A- DEFINITION
Literacy involves the knowledge, skills, processes and behaviours (Anstey, 17) to communicate in a variety of
forms, in a society that is influenced by social, technological and economic change.(Anstey, 1) These forms
include listening to, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating oral, print, visual and digital texts, and using
and modifying language for different purposes in a range of contexts.(Australian Curriculum Literacy) This list is
not limited, due to the ever changing developments in communication and technology which requires literacy to
be deep and flexible.(Anstey, 1) Literacy is an essential skill (Australian Curriculum Literacy) and the
foundation of learning in any setting. It is vial therefore that students understand the need to transfer their skills
and knowledge in every context.
Numeracy is the ability to process, interpret and communicate (Stanley, 4 [AAMT]) a variety of mathematical
skills including numerical, graphical, statistical and algebraic (Stanley, 4 [UK]) concepts. This application is not
limited to a school setting but requires the ability to manage a situation or solve a problem in a real context
(Gal, Manly & Schmitt, 4) and diverse scenarios including everyday life, work related, societal, community or
further learning.(Gal, Manly & Schmitt, 18) Numeracy involves students in recognising and understanding the
role of mathematics in the world and having the dispositions and capacities to use mathematical knowledge and
skills purposefully. (Australian Curriculum numeracy) This definition is not stagnate as the nature of information
and technology is forever developing and changing the ways in which society are asked to use their numeracy
skills.

PART B- RATIONAL
Literacy and Numeracy skills are not limited to English and Mathematics classrooms but can be demonstrated in
a variety of settings both within the school and beyond. This essay will demonstrate the how students can apply
and grow their literacy skills in the History classroom.
Nokes argues that every teacher is a reading teacher... [and] teachers across the curriculum are expected to
provide instruction in traditional reading and writing. (Nokes, 516) Recent studies suggest that there is a
literacy crisis (Monte-Sano, 540) in many schools who refuse to take a cross curricular approach to literacy, and
the solution is teacher collaboration and creating a more rounded curriculum which allows students to transfer
skills between subjects and share the load of teaching literacy skills. Recent studies both in Australian and the
US which explore the impacts of a history curriculum which has a greater focus on literacy have found teachers
are finding that conversations they are able to have with their students about history are enriched by close
attention to language that the functional grammar strategies enable (Schleppegrell, Greer & Taylor, 185) and
historical reasoning skills (Nokes, 517) are increased. In secondary history there is an expectation that students
have basic reading, writing and comprehension skills, as teachers build on this knowledge through exploration of
text type, analysis of developments in language, developing a critical perspective towards texts, essay and oral
presentation skills. The Australian Curriculum states students develop literacy capability as they learn how to
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build historical knowledge and to explore, analyse, question, discuss and communicate historical information,
concepts and ideas.(Australian Curriculum history) A major influence on this and a criticism of history teachers
(Nokes, 518) is selection (and overuse) of textbooks. Textbooks can be a fantastic start for students however the
strength of learning literacy in history is that students are exposed to a variety of texts from a variety of eras.
Diaries, propaganda, speeches, letters, official documents as well as images and the use of multimedia (in
recent years) are some of these text types and when comparing these from a variety of time periods and through
sentence deconstructing activities (Schleppegrell, Greer & Taylor, 185) students can expand their knowledge of
history, a variety of text types/media and how language can be manipulated.
In Australia numeracy is an educational priority (Geige & Dole, 474) and like literacy, a cross curricular
approach is vital. The Australian curriculum details a variety of circumstances in which numeracy skills can be
used and developed.
In History, students need to understand concepts and terms related to time, including past,
present and future... The concepts of measurement and sequence of time is reflected in
students exploration of the past and their chronological ordering of events. In addition,
students need to be able to identify, calculate and interpret measurements of periods of time
(millennium, Century, decade, year)Numeracy skills are also used in the reading and
construction of timelines and calendars studying of maps, including comparisons of borders
before, during and after warfare, maps tracking immigration patterns and the growth and
decline of a civilisation[analysing] population figures, percentages of casualties in war,
number of immigrants, rations, comparison of life expectancy and the cost of daily living
through time. (Numeracy teaching within Domains, 1)
It seems clear that without basic numeracy and literacy skills students would not be able to complete any
secondary history curriculum. The following activity demonstrates how students use both literacy and numeracy
skills to complete a basic task and the importance of teachers developing literacy skills.
Activity: Students are asked to complete a profile on a person from Ancient Egypt. In order to
do this they must analyse maps, timelines, population statistics and hierarchys to discover
where their person fit into society, life expectancy, what time they lived and where they lived.
Using this information as well as some of their knowledge from the unit thus far (textbook,
source analysis) students must write a diary or letter from the perspective of this person.
(Activity from M. Ryan, placement 2013)
This activity is a perfect example of students being asked to use numeracy skills; analysing statistics, data, maps
and timelines, as well as literacy skills as they read the textbook and present their findings in a written form.
Students would recognise the demands of this form (first person writing, use of correct grammar etc.) and the
need for them to change their writing style to fit the era (involves an understanding of how language has
changed). Ultimately Literacy and numeracy skills can never just be contained to the English and Mathematics
classrooms, as students can gain so much from exploring these skills in other domains, like history. Students
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with a particular interest in history may even find concepts discussed in other classrooms finally click because of
their understanding and passion for history.
WORKS CITED

Anstey, M., & Bull, G. (2006). Chapter 1: Changing times, changing literacies. In Teaching and learning
multiliteracies: Changing times, changing literacies, pp. 1-18. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Australiancurriculum.edu.au. (2014). The Australian Curriculum v6.0 History: general capabilities. [online]
Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanitiesandsocialsciences/history/general-capabilities
[Accessed: 18 Mar 2014].

Australiancurriculum.edu.au. (2014). The Australian Curriculum v6.0 Literacy - Introduction. [online] Retrieved
from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/literacy/introduction/introduction
[Accessed: 18 Mar 2014].

Australiancurriculum.edu.au. (2014). The Australian Curriculum v6.0 Numeracy - Introduction. [online] Retrieved
from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/numeracy/introduction/introduction [Accessed:
18 Mar 2014].

EduWeb. (2014). Numeracy teaching within domains. [online] Retrieved from:
https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/numeracyteachdomains.pdf [Accessed: 18
Mar 2014].

Gal, I., van Groenestijin, M., Manly, M., Schmitt, M., & Tout, D. (2003). Adult numeracy and its assessment in the
ALL survey: A conceptual framework and pilot studies. Canberra: ACER.

Geiger, V., Goos, M. & Dole, S. (2014). Curriculum intent, teacher professional development and student
learning in numeracy. Springer, pp. 473--492.

Monte-Sano, C. (2010). Disciplinary literacy in history: an exploration of the historical nature of adolescents'
writing. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19 (4), pp. 539--568.

Nokes, J. D. (2010). Observing literacy practices in history classrooms. Theory \& Research in Social Education,
38 (4), pp. 515--544.

Schleppegrell, M. J., Greer, S. & Taylor, S. (2008). Literacy in history: language and meaning. Australian Journal
of Language \& Literacy, 31 (2).

Stanley, G. (2008). National Numeracy Report. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia