 | 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 |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Corrections in the text of the manuscript |
| | Presentation of illustrations |
| | The final manuscript |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Submission of the final manuscript |
| | The definitive manuscript |
| | VI. EVALUATION OF THE FINAL MANUSCRIPT |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Aspects of evaluation |
| | Questions to be raised in the evaluation of a final manuscript |
| | Guidelines for evaluation |
| | The evaluators |
| | Modalities and criteria for evaluation |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Evaluation by teachers |
| | The trial edition |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Testing |
| | Evaluation |
| | VII. CONCLUSION |
| | REFERENCES |
The evaluators
Evaluators must fulfil certain conditions to participate in an evaluation:
- Possess excellent qualifications and professional experience in a given educational domain (teaching, curriculum, educational psychology, educational research, publishing school textbooks, elaboration of school books).- Not be personally engaged in the elaboration of the manuscript under evaluation.
- Possess or have previously received full information on the different stages and operations of textbook production (seminars organized by a Textbook Committee...)
- Have received special preparation for the work of evaluation and know about all aspects of the elaboration of manuscripts (preparatory working sessions under the guidance of a competent expert who could be the Chairman of the Committee).
In principle, evaluators are members of the Textbook Committee. However, outside personalities meeting the requirements for participating in the evaluation can be called upon to collaborate in this work.
Division of work amongst the evaluators of aspects evaluated
|
Aspects |
Evaluators |
|
Content |
- Subject specialists: teachers inspectors, supervisors |
| |
- Secondary school teachers |
| |
- Curriculum specialists |
|
Pedagogical approaches |
- Subject specialists |
| |
- Educational psychologists |
|
Drafting |
- Language teachers |
| |
- Publishing organizations |
|
Illustrations |
- Subject specialists |
| |
- Graphic artists |
|
Presentation and composition |
- Publishing services (compositors) |
Division of work is not mandatory, but simply indicative of the need to make use of all available qualifications. For countries having resources sufficient only for the production of one single textbook per discipline per school year, the evaluation of a manuscript can be the determining factor in obtaining the best possible quality of school books.
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