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Can Textbook Analysis Help Us Understand Why Croatian Students Seldom Read Their Textbooks?

Can Textbook Analysis Help Us Understand Why Croatian Students Seldom Read Their Textbooks? This study presents the results of an analysis of Croatian Language and Natural Sciences textbooks used in the fourth and sixth grade of primary education in Croatia. Textbooks are therein seen as core educational materials, influencing teacher practices—specifically, the reading comprehension instruction. Five textbooks were coded for text type, learning goals, and instructional strategies and activities. Our results show that simpler text structures prevail in textbooks for both subjects and grades. We observed only minor differences in the structure of textbooks for younger and older students—more specifically, the textbooks for older students were found to contain more questions encouraging various levels of inferencing. Most of the questions, however, aim to test factual knowledge, revealing a superficial approach to reading comprehension in all of the analysed textbooks. Since post-reading questions, instructional strategies and activities reflect the intended learning goals, they can influence teaching practices. Therefore, teachers unsatisfied with the approach taken by textbook authors might distance themselves from using textbooks, while others might use the one-dimensional (or even trivial) templates present, both thereby unintentionally creating a lack of opportunities for their students to develop their reading skills and more sophisticated patterns of critical thinking through intelligent textbook use. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png "Technology, Knowledge and Learning" Springer Journals

Can Textbook Analysis Help Us Understand Why Croatian Students Seldom Read Their Textbooks?

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References (54)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © Springer Nature B.V. 2021
ISSN
2211-1662
eISSN
2211-1670
DOI
10.1007/s10758-020-09485-z
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study presents the results of an analysis of Croatian Language and Natural Sciences textbooks used in the fourth and sixth grade of primary education in Croatia. Textbooks are therein seen as core educational materials, influencing teacher practices—specifically, the reading comprehension instruction. Five textbooks were coded for text type, learning goals, and instructional strategies and activities. Our results show that simpler text structures prevail in textbooks for both subjects and grades. We observed only minor differences in the structure of textbooks for younger and older students—more specifically, the textbooks for older students were found to contain more questions encouraging various levels of inferencing. Most of the questions, however, aim to test factual knowledge, revealing a superficial approach to reading comprehension in all of the analysed textbooks. Since post-reading questions, instructional strategies and activities reflect the intended learning goals, they can influence teaching practices. Therefore, teachers unsatisfied with the approach taken by textbook authors might distance themselves from using textbooks, while others might use the one-dimensional (or even trivial) templates present, both thereby unintentionally creating a lack of opportunities for their students to develop their reading skills and more sophisticated patterns of critical thinking through intelligent textbook use.

Journal

"Technology, Knowledge and Learning" – Springer Journals

Published: Jan 4, 2021

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