The Elaboration of School Textbooks - Methodological Guide (UNESCO, 1989, 66 p.): V. MANAGEMENT OF THE ELABORATION OF MANUSCRIPTS: (introduction...)

The Elaboration of School Textbooks - Methodological Guide (UNESCO, 1989, 66 p.)

(introduction...)

PREFACE

NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I. INTRODUCTION

Textbooks and educational achievements

Provision of school textbooks

Projects to develop the production of textbooks

Conditions and Constraints on textbook production

(introduction...)

Identification of needs

Financial resources

Elaboration of textbooks

Publishing

Printing

Distribution

Circulation and marketing of school textbooks

The decision to produce a textbook

Formulas and conditions for the elaboration of textbooks

(introduction...)

Original design

Adaptation of existing textbooks

Translation

Rights and protection of authors and translators

II. ELABORATION OF TEXTBOOKS

The main categories of textbooks

The roles of textbooks

The objectives in using textbooks

Teacher Training

Those elaborating the textbook

The author's contract

III. TEXTBOOK MANUSCRIPTS

Textbooks and curricula

(introduction...)

Teachers guides and school textbooks

The content of textbooks - origins

The nature of content

Accuracy

Precision

Topicality

Objectivity

Contribution to social objectives

Learning experiences and development of aptitudes

Progression of concepts and development of abilities

Interdisciplinarity

Educational approaches

Levels of ability of pupils

Interests and motivation of pupils

Stimulating an enquiring mind

Learning and evaluation exercises

Self-evaluation

Drafting a manuscript

The outline of the manuscript

Structure and organization of chapters

Presentation of chapters

The text: language used in textbooks

Vocabulary in textbooks

Phrases

Punctuation

The thread, or continuous link

The summary

Writing style

The first and last pages of a manuscript

IV. ILLUSTRATIONS

The role of illustrations

Types of illustrations

Characteristics and conditions of a good illustration

The cost of illustrations

The qualifications of illustrators

V. MANAGEMENT OF THE ELABORATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

(introduction...)

School Textbook Committees

(introduction...)

Functions of Textbook Committees

Status of the Committees

Members of the Committees

Working procedures

Submission of manuscripts

(introduction...)

Submission dates

Technical guide-lines for presentation and composition of text

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Corrections in the text of the manuscript

Presentation of illustrations

The final manuscript

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Submission of the final manuscript

The definitive manuscript

VI. EVALUATION OF THE FINAL MANUSCRIPT

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Aspects of evaluation

Questions to be raised in the evaluation of a final manuscript

Guidelines for evaluation

The evaluators

Modalities and criteria for evaluation

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Evaluation by teachers

The trial edition

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Testing

Evaluation

VII. CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

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The preceding chapters have analysed and, hopefully, lead to a better understanding of the problems raised by the elaboration of textbooks, as well as suggesting or recommending approaches or solutions which could be applied to the preparation of manuscripts. The way in which their elaboration is managed from beginning to end now needs to be envisaged.

In developed countries, school textbook production is usually undertaken by governmental or private industrial enterprises with the long experience, skills and capacities required to estimate and cover needs for books at the national level. The intervention of educational authorities is more often than not limited to an evaluation of the merit of texts published and their relevance to official curricula. It is primarily those responsible for educational content and teachers who choose and recommend school textbooks.

In most of the least developed countries, where no real industry or largescale market for books has yet been established, Ministries of Education usually undertake production of textbooks and their provision to schools. General policy adopted as regards school textbooks can vary:

- a governmental service or agency under the auspices of the Ministry of Education (textbook publishing organizations, school book centres, or specialised institutes) is responsible for all production activities and book provision;
- publishing or printing or sometimes both is sub-contracted to private publishing organisations, the governmental agency being responsible for planning provision of textbooks, elaboration of manuscripts and distribution of books.
- private publishing organizations are responsible for printing and distribution, the Ministry of Education undertaking the planning and elaboration of manuscripts.

Each of these modalities corresponds to a specific situation in countries confronted with the need to solve the crucial problem of lack of textbooks. According to whether capacities exist within the private sector to undertake certain aspects of production and distribution, governments are lead to adopt the solutions which best coincide with the needs of their educational system. However, it would seem that overall responsibility for the totality of production and distribution activities by a state publishing organization is, for many countries, a difficult undertaking, given the considerable financial technical and material resources required. Moreover, this modality implies the intervention of several Ministries (education, finance, planning) which can lead to problems in coordinating the different services involved, slow progress in decision-making, difficulties in applying rigourous production schedules, with not very satisfactory results. It also assumes the existence of personnel specialised in all the various production activities or that training in these domains is available.