Interfaces among statistical literacy and critical and behavioral competences

Abstract

The field of studies and research in Statistical Education has been formed based on a look focused on the development of three competencies, literacy, reasoning and statistical thinking. Among them, we understand that literacy has a broader scope, in a way that encompasses the other competences, and in the Brazilian context it has gained greater emphasis in research. It was observed that several assumptions of Critical Education emerge from working with statistical literacy, so it has already been shown that critical competence is another important competence for the universe of Statistical Education. However, in some studies related to critical competence we have observed details that reveal characteristics specific to the individual’s behavior, highlighting the need to develop a behavioral competence. Along this line, this article aims to discuss an articulation between critical competence (as it is defined in studies on Critical Statistics Education, which in turn is derived from Critical Mathematical Education) and behavioral competence in the context of statistical literacy. This is a qualitative study and for analysis we used the Discursive Textual Analysis methodology and the data collected are clippings from a doctoral work. The results indicate that there is a relationship between these competencies, but there are also specific characteristics of behavioral competence that educators should be aware of.