Numbers and graphs - what sort of mathematical literacy do we need for geographical education in uncertain times

Abstract

When we mention mathematical thinking in geographical education, people naturally think about calculating representative fractions or determining the total fertility rate of a population. While mathematical thinking considers the heuristic strategies that the student can use in solving problems (Stacey, 2006), these strategies require skills and knowledge that draw on domains of numeracy, graphicacy and mathematical literacy. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a state where citizens need basic mathematical literacy to navigate the increasing complexities of spatiality of the disease and its impact. For this article, we shall scope the discussion to primarily focus on mathematical literacy. From the World Health Organisation to local governments and the media, numerical information and mathematical representations have been circulated to keep citizens informed about the COVID-19 disease since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. Citizenry needs to be able to critically consider political rhetoric to ensure that they understand the global spread of infection, the need for social distancing and the vaccination imperative. However, there is the assumption that people can interpret all the information and mathematical representations well. Terms that appear on our television screens and social media include mathematical modelling, infection rates, spread, doubling time, and reproduction number (the R-value). What do these numbers mean? To make matters worse, there are also numerous graphs that accompany these numbers in the reports. Hopefully, the terms used were clearly defined in these instances, but what if they were not? What if citizens were not paying attention to the media reports when the definitions were provided? A critical component of the pandemic media coverage is the visual imagery – the graphs and empathy invoking photographs that provide the human face of illness and mourning. We may not immediately think of the relationship between mathematical literacy and geography as how humans interact with each other, the environment and society. How we engage the information will certainly have implications for geographical education. Indeed, Chang and Kidman (2021) have argued that concepts like scale are crucial to understanding “places” and “landscapes” and what it means to live in a “tightly interconnected world” (International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education,