Textbook quality: a guide to textbook standards

In: Eckert. Expertise Bd. 2

Abstract

This book is a discussion and description of a set of standards for the quality of textbooks. As widely accessed resources for learning, textbooks are cultural products of primary importance. Drawing on Bakhtin's theory of speech genres, this publication views school textbooks as a specific complex genre whose key characteristics should ideally be defined by the addressee, i.e. the student. Further, it illustrates the significance of textbooks to successful learning outcomes and school students' cognitive development. The core of the book is formed by forty-three quality standards for textbooks, their operational definitions, theoretical backgrounds and practical implications. The standards are intended for use by textbook authors and publishers, educational authorities, teachers, educational practitioners and others involved in the creation, accreditation, selection and evaluation of textbooks and other teaching materials.