What Is Functional Literacy?
PISA 2022: The importance of functional literacy
The OECD will publish the results of the latest PISA edition on December 5 2023. The programme for international student assessment is administered to 15-year olds and measures the students’ skills to navigate life after school. Each country chooses whether to participate in each iteration of the test. In 2022 Bulgaria took part for the 7th time (it joined at the start of the initiative in 2000, but skipped 2003). In total 81 countries participated in the 2022 test.
PISA assesses the students’ mathematical, reading, and scientific literacy, which are foundational for success and informed citizenship in the modern world. The test results are indicative of the students’ ability to analyze what they have learned and to apply it to everyday situations, to think logically and critically, to form intercurricular connections and to have in-depth understanding of different events and phenomena.
The PISA test does not measure what students have learned by heart in specific classes. Rather, it shows the extent to which different countries succeed in aiding their adolescents to acquire the necessary skills for personal and professional success in life. The main focus of the assessment is functional literacy – a person’s ability to thrive in contemporary society when faced with real-life challenges.
What we learned from PISA’s previous editions
The 2018 PISA results showed that nearly half of Bulgarian students (47%) are functionally illiterate at they graduate high school. This means that they experience significant difficulties when trying to apply what they have learned in real-life situations. The World Bank prognosis is that Bulgaria’s 2022 test results will be even lower due to the effects that the pandemic had on students’ life and learning opportunities.
The PISA results (and their downward trends) clearly show that Bulgarian education is in a crisis. The country has to seriously address this because the achievements of 15-year-olds on this test don’t just affect them. They have implications for the whole of society, since in a few years’ time, these same adolescents will become parents, will enter the labour market, and will be the driver of our economy. They will be the ones who must improve the environment in which we all live and they will not succeed if they are functionally illiterate.
What exactly does the term functional literacy mean
Functional literacy is not the same as basic literacy. Basic literacy refers to the basic ability to read and write. It serves as the basis for further development. Without this further development, however, basic literacy proves to be insufficient in today’s highly competitive and demanding world.
Functional literacy is a set of skills and competencies which allow people to function and thrive in modern-day society.
To function and thrive in modern-day society practically means:
- Making informed choices about your own health (e.g., reading a drug label and finding out what dosage to take and learning about any side-effects you might experience after taking the drug);
- Knowing your rights and responsibilities as a citizen and consumer (e.g., understanding the clauses in your employment contract, figuring out what to do when you get a ticket by the traffic police, or making an informed vote);
- Thinking critically when presented with new information (e.g., distinguishing between facts and opinions in advertising, social media, or news websites; using a transit map, etc.);
- Experiencing personal and professional growth (e.g., making the connection between cause and effect, analyzing information, managing your personal finances, being creative, setting and achieving your own goals, etc.).
PISA aims to measure just that – the extent to which students have developed the skills to find, make sense of, process and present information or solve problems in cases resembling real-life situations. The interpretation of literacy in PISA goes beyond academic knowledge in individual school subjects. It is the actual application of what is learned, the making of cross-curricular connections and the use of these connections in real-life situations that is assessed. It is therefore important and useful for every teacher, regardless of what they teach, to develop functional literacy.
A key element of PISA is the understanding that the competences that young people form in school affect their ability to continue their education and to participate successfully in society. It has been shown that there is a direct correlation between the level of functional illiteracy and the percentage of people who neither continue their education nor are engaged in work.
In PISA, the measurement of functional literacy is divided into three main areas – reading, mathematics and science. This conventional division allows for a focus on measuring different skills over the three-year cycle of the survey and obtaining a complete picture of students’ competences. The skills and competencies that the test measures are foundational for success and informed citizenship in the modern world.
The PISA test has three main areas of focus: reading, math and science literacy. The test is administered in three-year cycles and the three domains are rotated. Mathematical literacy, or numeracy, is the main focus of the 2022 test, the results of which will be released on December 5, 2023.
Math skills form a cornerstone of functional literacy, underpinning many aspects of modern life. As we delve deeper into the results and implications of PISA, it’s important to understand why mathematical literacy is not just about mastering numbers, but about applying these skills in practical, everyday contexts.
Can I afford to pay rent and buy a new phone this month, or what exactly is mathematical literacy
The PISA mathematical literacy assessment measures the students’ ability to apply mathematical knowledge in a variety of situations. Developing numeracy in the classroom is not the same as teaching mathematics. Mathematical literacy is helpful in solving problems and challenges in a variety of subjects as well as in all kinds of real life situations. Being mathematically literate means being able to apply mathematical tools and thinking in approaching a problem. This, of course, presupposes being comfortable with the basic concepts and tools of mathematics.
Mathematical literacy is indispensable in life. Here are some examples of how it is applied in everyday situations:
Personal finance and family budgeting
- Planning monthly expenses based on income;
- Calculating interest on loans or credit cards;
- Comparing prices and calculating discounts while shopping.
Health and fitness
- Calculating dosages of medication based on weight and/or age;
- Interpreting different health-related data and statistics and understanding health risks arising from certain actions or behaviors;
- Understanding and applying a personal fitness plan;
- Tracking and interpreting statistics in sports.
Travel
- Estimating travel time and fuel costs;
- Ability to convert currencies and budget travel expenses
Home improvement, cooking and baking
- Figuring out how much paint you need for a room based on square footage and package size;
- Doubling or halving a recipe based on how many people you’re expecting for dinner.
These are just a few examples to illustrate the various applications of numeracy in the everyday life of the common person. Mathematical literacy is key to making informed decisions, solving problems of all kinds and planning and managing daily life efficiently. In this sense, the responsibility for developing mathematical literacy in students should not be the responsibility of mathematics teachers alone, but should be the priority of every teacher and of the education system as a whole.
Learn more about PISA.
Be on the lookout for Teach for Bulgaria’s official commentary on the country’s PISA2022 results as well as our recommendations on the measures Bulgaria needs to take in order to improve students’ results. In the following weeks we will publish more materials on different strategies (tried and tested by the Teach for Bulgaria community) that educators can implement in order to improve students’ functional literacy.
