“220 Fatal Accidents” A literacies perspective on adult numeracy c lassrooms

1. “220 Fatal Accidents”A literacies perspective on adult numeracy classrooms Helen Oughton University of Bolton

2. Viewing notes – Important! • Sound clips • To protect participant anonymity and confidentiality, the sound clips of learner discussion played at the conference cannot be published on the web. However, transcripts of the discussion can be found on the accompanying handout. • Animated slides • Some slides in this presentation are animated; therefore it is best viewed in SlideShow mode (rather than Normal (editing) mode)

3. About the research • How can numeracy learning be made more relevant to adult learners’ lives? • Audio-recorded and analysed naturally-occurring classroom discourse • Learners working together to solve maths problems • How do learners relate classroom activities to out-of-classroom practices?

4. Methodology • Linguistic ethnography • Naturalistic data? • Mobile phones as recording devices • Learners intensely engaged in maths activities (Labov 1972) • 11 hours of learner discussion recorded and transcribed • Fieldnotes to record gesture and other non-auditory interaction

5. Methodology

6. Setting and participants • Weekly numeracy classes • Local authority adult education service • 18 participating learners • Majority female, white-British, aged 20-60 years • Aiming for Adult Numeracy Level 1 and 2 qualifications • No intervention in usual classroom activities

7. Setting and participants

8. Classroom Activities and Discussions…

9. Episode 1: “220 Fatal Accidents” *** See Transcipt Extract 1 *** • Phrase “fatal accidents” read aloud 3 times • Paraphrased by Ruth in line 1 • No reference to tragedy of these incidents (c.f. next slide) • Recognise that 11/44 is an unlikely answer • “Rules” of word problems • Mutual support • Resolution of right answer

10. Episode 1: “220 Fatal Accidents” HSE Press Release (HSE 2005) “enormous personal tragedies involving unexpected loss of family and friends”

11. Episode 2: Mean Wages

12. Episode 2: Mean Wages • Cards distributed randomly • No job titles specified by cards or teacher *** See Transcript Extract 2a *** • Spontaneous role play • Mock derision: “Miss Moneybags” • Critical response: “I wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway” *** See Transcript Extract 2b *** • No pre-defined answer • Answer is messy (as in real-life) • Knowing laughter (line 10)

13. Why didn’t students respond to context in Episode 1? Why didn’t students respond to “context” in Episode 1?

14. Context in which students are practicing numeracy?

15. Turning a social practice lens on the classroom • Classroom mathematics shown not to reflect everyday numeracy practices • (e.g. Carraher et al 1985; Saxe 1988; Lave 1988; Nunes et al1993; Johnston et al1997; FitzSimons 2005) • Social practice models of numeracy • (e.g. Baker 1998; Johnston and Yasukawa 2001; Street et al 2005) • Have focused on mismatch between classroom mathematics and everyday numeracy practices • Not on practices of the classroom itself

16. Classroom context from a social practice perspective Draws on Chouliakari and Fairclough (1999); Street, Baker and Tomlin (2005); Barton and Hamilton (1998; 2000) • Physical setting • Dedicated classroom surrounded by educational resources • Historically and socially situated • Skills for Life – curriculum, qualifications, targets • Relationships with other learners and with teacher • Cultural capital associated with success in mathematics • Mathematics qualifications gateway to employment • Own history of schooling • Social purposes – long term • To obtain qualification • To help children with school work • For personal fulfilment • Social purposes – short term • To get the answer on the answer sheet • To support each other in solving the problem • Not to investigate safety in construction industry

17. Why didn’t students respond to “context” in Episode 1? Why did students respond to “context” in Episode 2? How can we use this to make classroom activity more meaningful to adult learners?

18. Episode 1: Skills for Life context reinforced by materiality and mediation of worksheet? • A4 photocopied worksheet – associated with education • Labelled as “Level 2” • Answers available overleaf • Classic 3 part word problems (see below) • Mediation by teacher in terms of exam preparation (see below) • All serves to reinforce learners’ expectations about how they should respond?

19. Word-problems as a genre • (Cooper and Harries 2002; Wyndhamn and Saljo 1997; Verschaffel et al 1994; Gerofsky 1996; 1999; Mukhopadhyay and Greer 2001) • Characteristics • Present indicative • Fictional • Third person subjects/pronouns • Strongly associated with mathematics classrooms • Well-known expectations about how problems are to be solved • “On a ship, there are 26 sheep and 10 goats. How old is the captain?” • (Baruk 1985)

20. Mediated by teacher in terms of exam preparation

21. Episode 2: Skills for Life context disrupted by materiality and mediation of cards? • Mediation by teacher: • Creates conditional/subjunctive mood • First and second person pronouns (c.f. Palm 2008) • Random distribution of cards • Physical possession of card? (c.f. Kress et al 2001) • No previously known “right answer” • Disrupts learners’ expectations about how they should respond?

22. To summarise...