In-depth Literacy and Numeracy Demands of Jobs: Workbase Resources

This work was done before the Learning Progressions became the underpinning framework for assessing and teaching literacy and numeracy in New Zealand, but there are pages and pages of analysis on literacy and numeracy skills and tasks relating to different jobs. I’ve pasted in screenshots from the resource that looks at the job of a truck driver.

These job profiles mostly just give you lists of things that people have to do to do the work, but without any indication of the levels of difficulty attached to these kinds of actions. However, there is still some really great information here if you look at it with your Learning Progressions-tinted glasses on and realise that most of it probably happens around steps 4, 5, and 6.

If you needed to you could easily map the breakdown of skills and tasks to the learning progressions and work out what steps things are likely to happen at.

One of the really nice things is that this system includes information about the critical thinking skills required in the job – something that is missing from the Learning Progressions, at least in explicit terms.

You can get a detailed description of possible literacy and numeracy tasks and demands for the following long list of jobs and trades here:

• Apprentice Chef
• Automotive Electrician
• Automotive Heavy Engineer
• Automotive Light Vehicle Trades
• Automotive Light Vehicle Specialist Technician
• Automotive Refinisher
• Beauty Therapist
• Carpenter
• Catering Assistant
• Coal Miner
• Collision Repair Technician
• Electrical Appliance Service Trainee
• Flooring Installer
• General Worker/Operator
• Glass Processor
• Glazier
• Hairdresser
• Line Mechanic
• Metal Fabricator/Welder
• Pharmacy Assistant
• Pharmacy Technician
• Plumber
• Quarry Manager
• Quarry Operator
• Ramp Operator
• Retail Salesperson
• Roofing Trainee
• Site Security Officer
• Sports Turf Management Trainee
• Storekeeper
• Textile Operator
• Truckdriver
• Tyre Technician
• Youth Worker