Textbooks are the foundation of formal education. It is a minor source of knowledge for teachers as well as students. They are not written only by an individual but by a lot of experts, professionals, authors, teachers, and students of schools, colleges, and universities.
Meaning:
A textbook is a combination of two words: ‘text and book’. ‘Text’ means writing material and ‘Book’ means a document with written material.
Definitions:
According to Tillin and Quinty,”a textbook is a book used in giving instructions that contains the basic principles of a subject.
Raymount says, “A textbook must be regarded as strictly subordinate and supplementary to the teacher’s classroom lessons.” So we can say that textbooks are the teacher in print.
Advantages of a Textbook
1. Systematic:
They provide all information regarding the topic in a systematic and organized way. The students and teachers get to know what to do at what time.
2. Uniformity:
They maintain uniformity in the classroom. If students do not have any books with them in the classroom, then there will be chaos in the classroom.
3. Friend and Guide:
The textbook provides guidance to the students. The students, who are weak in studies, can perform better when they take advantage of these bookkeeping services at home.
4. Syllabus:
They also play an important role in delimiting the syllabus, as the whole syllabus is divided into different units and lessons.
5. Source of Information:
These are a great source of knowledge and information. These books provide details on a topic. It also provides previous knowledge of the concepts, etc. For example, if we study about World War II, then it also provides knowledge about World War 1.
6. Wider Scope:
They have a broader and wider scope, as they are used by teachers in all subjects. No subject is complete without textbooks.
Disadvantages of a Textbook
1. Hampers Creativity:
These books discourage the creativity and novelty of the students as they become largely dependent upon the books.
2. Too Much Dependence by Teachers:
Another disadvantage is that the teachers become slaves to them. They don’t use any other aids in addition to these books. The teachers give lectures by reading from books, and as a result, the learning becomes boring and dull in the class.
3. Expensive:
Sometimes the books are so expensive that the poor students can’t afford to buy them. So there should be a proper arrangement of academic books in the library.
4. Vocabulary:
Some books use very tough vocabulary, which is not according to the mental level of the students.
5. Biasness:
Another disadvantage of these books is that sometimes they are biased in nature towards particular languages or religions.
Qualities of a Textbook
1. There should be proper coverage of the syllabus in them.
2. The content should be up-to-date.
3. The content should not be biased.
4. The presentation should be according to the maxims of teaching, which are from simple to complex, from seen to unseen, and from known to unknown.
5. The language should be according to the mental age and needs of students.
6. The books should be printed on durable pages.
7. The book should be balanced; that is, it should not be either too heavy or too thin.
8. The price of the textbooks should be reasonable so that every student can have access to them.
9. There should be a proper illustration of the topic with daily life examples.
10. Technical terms should be explained in simple language.
In the end, we can say that textbooks should be used by teachers as supportive instructors. In the same way, students should use textbooks as a guiding tool. Too much dependence on textbooks hinders the development of critical and high-level thinking skills.
