Pedagogical Relationships between Adult Literacy and Numeracy. Research Report No. 2.

The pedagogical relationships existing between adult literacy and numeracy were examined in a study involving four data collection activities: historical review of development of the general concept of numeracy; semistructured interviews with adult educators and curriculum theorists, planners, and developers concerned with the relationships between literacy and numeracy in adult education; collection and critical review of selected curriculum documents and resource materials across a broad range of adult literacy, numeracy, and training programs throughout most of Australia's states; and detailed cases studies of two classrooms in Western Australia and New South Wales where literacy and numeracy are being taught by attempting to engage their interrelationships in local and specific contexts. Context was determined to be the crucial factor determining the pedagogical relationships between literacy and numeracy. Greater degrees of embedding instruction in context were generally associated with closer and more specific relationships between literacy and numeracy. The relationships between literacy and numeracy in specific contexts were examined within the framework of five terms: discourse, imbrication, modality, instrumental, and pedagogic. It was recommended that awareness of numeracy issues within adult education be increased and more experimental "integrated" literacy and numeracy classes be developed. (Contains 84 references.) (MN)