In the digital age, do we still need textbooks?

It's often pointed out that textbooks weigh down students' schoolbags. They also weigh heavily on budgets, and are not easy to renew when curriculum changes are accelerating - as evidenced by the debates in the regions over the purchase of the next set of books for the lycée, in line with the reform of the bac.

Sylvain Wagnon, University of Montpellier

However, beyond these practical drawbacks, textbooks retain a strong symbolic place, imbuing the imagination and memories of generations of pupils (as shown by the examples of the "petit Lavisse" in history or the "Lagarde et Michard" in French), sounding the beginning and end of school years, from their distribution to their handover.

What accounts for its longevity and importance? What does the future hold for the textbook, in an era of multiple ministerial reforms and "all-digital" technology?

A multi-faceted tool

The textbook is a paper-based work that brings together a body of knowledge on a particular subject, and is a "false historical truism", as Alain Choppin, a pioneer of studies on the subject, has written. In fact, as a multi-faceted educational tool, it lies at the interface between the institution and teachers, between students and teachers, and between families and the institution. It's also a commercial product: in France, educational publishing is a major economic market, accounting for 14% of the sector's annual sales.

As the repository of an "official history", textbooks reveal political will and possible discrimination. In 2008, a Halde report analyzed and denounced the sexism of French school textbooks, which reflect the patriarchal domination of our society. A recent study by the Georg Eckert Institute pointed out that, while textbooks in most countries in the world, and in France in particular, increasingly mention women's rights, women are still shown in traditional or subordinate roles compared to men.

Textbooks are indeed a major societal issue, and it's no coincidence that Viktor Orban's Hungarian government uses them to maintain inequality between girls and boys in line with its reactionary policies.

Pedagogical choices

As vehicles of values, representations and stereotypes, textbooks open up fertile fields for research. For example, their critical analysis has led to numerous works on the construction of a national myth by Suzanne Citron, and on the scholastic fabrication of history by Laurence De Cock and Emmanuelle Picard.

If we stay within the historical discipline, textbook analysis also enables us to understand theevolution of curricula and changes in a school discipline. This is the kind of work that the University of Montpellier has been engaged in for the past fourteen years, and which has just given rise to a symposium on disciplinary norms and the "school form", in the words of sociologist Guy Vincent.

Indeed, the question arises as to whether textbooks contribute to the slow pace of educational development and the compartmentalization of knowledge. These debates are not new, and early ^20th-century figures such as Célestin Freinet were very hostile to the textbook. Even if the slogan "no more textbooks" was above all a desire to question usage rather than banish the textbook as such, it was indeed an offensive against traditional teaching.

At present, the place and role of textbooks are at the heart of debates and pedagogical choices for the teaching of reading, with a global analysis by the CSEN (Conseil Scientifique de l'Education Nationale) and ministerial recommendations for the choice of reading textbooks.

New uses

Does the digital age herald the end of the textbook? Even though digital media are on the increase due to the price of paper books, students are still attached to paper, and the younger generations differentiate between reading on paper and on screen.

In the school sector, a survey by education publishers shows that 71% of teachers say they use paper textbooks with their pupils, and 17% use digital textbooks. But beyond this modest breakthrough for digital textbooks, the way teachers use textbooks is changing.

In fact, the same study found that one teacher in two uses resources other than the textbook, notably the Internet. The textbook's role in lesson planning is therefore diminishing, even though 73% of teachers still see it as a strong point, making lesson preparation easier and saving time (66%).

Digital technology is undeniably a challenge for textbooks, creating a new environment for thinking and acting. It's also an opportunity to make it accessible to children with disabilities, particularly visual impairments.

The far-reaching reforms of school curricula since 2016, with an acceleration since 2018, seem to be upsetting the situation. In January 2019, school publishers alerted public authorities to the complexity of renewing all textbooks at such a pace. The question of financing is raised in both primary and secondary schools. Some regions are considering withdrawing from the purchase of textbooks, and want to go all digital to avoid new expenses.

This development worries some teachers because of the improvisation involved and the risk of losing the freedom to choose the textbook. Is there not a risk that the choice of a digital textbook will be based on financial considerations, rather than a reflection on the new teaching methods it could bring?

Sylvain Wagnon, Professor of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Montpellier

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