Defining Contextual Literacies

Hi Everyone,

The health literacy community has been discussing the definition, and I would love to see how other contextual literacies are defined and how you all conceptualize them. The big question is whether you define them according to the knowledge and competencies, or do you also include using those competencies. 

Here are two examples of definitions of health literacy:

The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. (Institute of Medicine, 2004)

Health literacy allows the public and personnel working in all health-related contexts to find, understand, evaluate, communicate, and use information. (Calgary Charter, 2008

Some think that the "use" part should not be part of the definition, and others think that it is key.

So I would like to know how you define Financial Literacy, Media Literacy, Scientific Literacy, Numeracy and other contextual literacies?

Please share your definitions and let us know what you think about this debate!

Thanks,

Julie

* While the above is the shortened and most often used version the Calgary Charter definition, the full version is: 

"Health literacy allows the public and personnel working in all health-related contexts to find, understand, evaluate, communicate, and use information. Health literacy is the use of a wide range of skills that improve the ability of people to act on information in order to live healthier lives. These skills include reading, writing, listening, speaking, numeracy, and critical analysis, as well as communication and interaction skills."

Comments

Re financial literacy: The OECD definition was proposed in a recent consultation paper ('Shaping a National Financial Literacy Strategy 2014-2017) issued by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission, which has the running on financial literacy here. The OECD's definition of FL is: 'a combination of financial awareness, knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve individual financial wellbeing.' However...ASIC reports that there was a strong response to this, with respondents commenting on the need to more clearly reflect personal circumstances in shaping attitudes and behaviours. Some also suggested 'financial capability' instead of 'financial literacy' to more adequately acknowledge the cultural, environmental and structural factors that can affect financial decision-making.
For other definitions of FL, Section 2 of the 2009 RAND Working Paper, 'Defining and Measuring Financial Literacy' by Hung, Parker and Yoong,l provides a good overview.  Included is the definition used by the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy in 2008: 'the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial wellbeing.'  However, the various differences in the concept of FL that the authors note sounds eerily familiar!

Here's the definition of "Literacy", according to the 2003 NAAL:

Using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.

What about other contexual literacies?

Great question, Julie!  Here is the "gold standard" definition of scientific literacy:

"Scientific literacy means that a person can ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences. It means that a person has the ability to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena. Scientific literacy entails being able to read with understanding articles about science in the popular press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of the conclusions. Scientific literacy implies that a person can identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions and express positions that are scientifically and technologically informed. A literate citizen should be able to evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of its source and the methods used to generate it. Scientific literacy also implies the capacity to pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence and to apply conclusions from such arguments appropriately." (National Science Education Standards, page 22)

National Science Education Standards. Copyright 1996 by the National Academy of Sciences. Courtesy of the National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 

National Science Education Standards: http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses

Finally located the article I remembered from a few years ago that is central to this discussion and Julie's original question. The authors conducted a critical review of concepts in 7 other literacy domains (selected from an original list of 30) to try to see how they compare to definitions of the concept of health literacy. While I think we might quibble with the basis of their selection, the article is still useful: 'Defining and measuring health literacy: how can we profit from other literacy domains?' by Frisch AL1, Camerini L, Diviani N, Schulz PJ. (Health Promot Int. 2012 Mar;27(1):117-26. doi: 10.1093/heapro/dar043). See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21724626