Evaluation and selection of textbooks in Portugal: perceptions from mother tongue teachers

Abstract

Quality education issues are dominating public and political debates in the western world. In Portugal, the discussion has widened to include quality control of textbooks, leading to the establishment of an evaluation and approval system of textbooks aimed at guaranteeing their conceptual and pedagogical quality (Law 47/2006). In these times of change, perhaps the most significant in the past four decades since the end of the dictatorship and the roll out of the single book policy in schools, the purpose of this paper is to examine the positions and perceptions of mother tongue teachers from both compulsory and secondary education, concerning their criteria for approval, evaluation and selection of textbooks. The empirical data was gathered by means of a questionnaire answered by 340 Portuguese teachers. The questionnaire requested teachers to state their level of agreement with arguments concerning the editing, selection and evaluation of textbooks. The aim of this research was to understand teachers’ positions on textbook evaluation in order to improve: 1) the process of selection and 2) the quality of the material object itself regarding its function as a core tool for quality teaching and learning. The research also aims to understand the criteria that teachers value most in selecting the best textbook. The study shows teachers’ opinions are divided regarding the quality standards for textbooks; for some lack of quality is due to conceptual and scientific errors, for others it is pedagogical inadequacies. Despite this disagreement, teachers recognise the important role that the current approval process plays in improving the selection process and increasing quality of education.