Is The Textbook Set To Make A Comeback In Schools, Or Is There No Place For It In The 21st Century?
How can textbooks benefit teaching and learning when information can simply be Googled and where do they fit within the context of critical thinking skills and creativity?
Recently, the Publishers Association launched the Textbook Challenge after an independent survey showed that “sixty-three per cent of primary and secondary teachers in English schools could be making more use of textbooks”.
This, of course, happened against the backdrop of the November 2014 policy paper by Tim Oates which highlights the “low use” of textbooks in the UK and the OECD’s 2015 Global School rankings which placed the UK 20th overall.
But other than these developments, what does the textbook have going for it?
To consider the issue deeper, let us interrogate what we mean by 21st-century teaching and learning – a vision which is predominantly seen as excluding textbooks.
Yes, we want to prepare Year 4 learners for a working life into the year 2060, and yes, we are simply incapable of imagining what their future careers will look like as the world becomes more heavily tech-focused and changes at an increasingly rapid pace.
Surely, information will soon be available in a way that resembles memory recall – “think it, and you will know it”. In such a scenario, the role of a textbook seems diminished when it comes to preparing learners for the future. Surely, it would seem, it is better to focus on critical-thinking skills and creativity – skills that are not directly tied to knowledge retrieval.
However, as enticing and compelling as this vision of education is, it is fundamentally flawed, because it completely underestimates the cognitive requirements for critical thinking and creativity.
Indeed, findings from 21st-century research on the mind, brain and education (MBE) expose as a neuro-myth the idea that it is possible to think critically and/or creatively in a specific field without a sound foundational knowledge.
In other words, trying to teach students to think critically and creatively on a specific topic without them having a sound base knowledge of that topic is asking them to do something which is cognitively impossible.
Their working memory will simply be so engaged in trying to cope with all the new knowledge they need (because they do not have the facts stored in their long-term memory) that they will be incapable of critical thinking or creativity.
So, going back to my earlier question – yes, textbooks should make a comeback.
Not in order to return to the ‘good old days’, but rather to support teachers in delivering effective 21st-century learning provisions and give students the opportunity to delve deeper into subjects and develop the skills and knowledge needed in today’s age.
When properly used, they provide the scaffolding to ensure that students master the foundational knowledge required in order for them to become critical and creative thinkers.
Obviously, this does not mean we should endorse low-quality textbooks or outdated modalities of using textbooks in class.
So then, what do the textbooks of today look like?
They’re digitised. In a tech-based world, where today’s students are the children of the tech-generation and have been raised with it all around them, it comes as no surprise that technology engages them.
This is crucial when it comes to promoting successful learning outcomes.
They offer students greater learning opportunities. By this, I mean that textbooks aren’t just incredibly resourceful sources of learning material, but they are versatile education resources.
Digital learning content doesn’t just mean textbooks from leading publishers in a digital format; it also helps by providing the ability to highlight text, make annotations and add supporting files, such as videos from the internet or additional information from news articles.
Teachers are also able to create assessments for students and send these to their textbooks in order to support learning.
In summary, the textbook may have been perceived as a static, fixed relic from a bygone era, something that’s well past its ‘sell-by’ date, but just as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat help to connect today’s world, the textbook is now able to connect learning strategies unlike ever before.
They enable students to merge and cohere notes, annotations, additional documents and assessments and access a wealth of engaging learning material. Our students need resources that not only engage, but motivate and improve learning too; with contemporary, digital learning solutions, students are supported in learning and the teacher is aided in delivering effective learning.
Dr J Liebenberg is CEO of ITSI.
