The 50,000 Words Enigma About Reading: How Numberfic(a)tion Shapes Educational Imaginaries and Realities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Global Perspectives on Sociology of Education (Table 11)

Abstract

In this paper, we trace specific numbers related to reading and vocabulary that circulate in public discourse and are regularly referred to in educational and political settings in Sweden. Our purpose is to explore how numeric indicators of reading co-produce societal desires, fears, and political solutions. The results show that the numbers remain an enigma: their origins are not traceable, nor how they were produced. We regard the numbers as examples of numberfic(a)tion, meaning there is no measurement underpinning them. Yet, they stabilize, dramatize and communicate research findings in ways that are considered convincing. The numbers have rhetorical value and efficiently guide the discourse about reading, readers, and non-readers, as well as indicate political action.

Authors

• Tatiana Mikhaylova, University of Gävle

• Elin Sundström Sjödin, Mälardalen University