Conceptualising practical literacy in mathematics teaching

Recently, a new concept, practical literacy, was introduced at the political level in Denmark. The concept was not clearly defined, and—despite several attempts—it remains unclear what practical literacy entails, especially in the more traditional school subjects such as mathematics. To develop a clearer understanding of the concept, we conducted a literature review that resulted in mostly general perspectives on the concept. Based on the review, we suggest a conceptualisation of practical literacy in mathematics teaching as spanned by three dimensions: involving students’ senses and embodied experiences, using authentic problems from the outside world or work life, and producing a product or an event. To further support and qualify the conceptualisation, we relate it to three theoretical approaches within mathematics education research. We argue that this conceptualisation is in line with the political framework and has the potential to support students’ learning of mathematics—at least from a theoretical perspective. Practical literacy, lower secondary education, embodied cognition, mathematical representations, mathematical modelling.