Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Textbook Practices: Reading Texts, Touching Books

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies

Abstract

Drawing on practice theory, a programme of research is delineated that focuses on textbook practices. Textbooks and their textual content are seen as materially shaped textual artefacts that are adapted, transformed, contested, subverted, or may even be banned from the classroom. Mapping qualitative research that deals with the use of textbooks, two shifts denoting an increasing recognition of practices in textbook research are identified: a shift from static content to dynamic texts in use and a shift from written language to the material artefact itself. The chapter concludes by outlining possibilities for further research on textbook practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abraham, J. (1989). Teacher Ideology and Sex Roles in Curriculum Texts. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 10(1), 33–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahlrichs, J., Baier, K., Christophe, B., Macgilchrist, F., Mielke, P., & Richtera, R. (2015). Memory Practices. On Reproducing, Destabilizing and Interrupting Majority Memories. Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, 7(2), 89–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Assmann, J. (1994). Ancient Egypt and the Materiality of the Sign. In H. U. Gumbrecht & K. L. Pfeiffer (Eds.), Materialities of Communication (pp. 15–31). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attenborough, F. T. (2011). “I don’t f***ing care!” Marginalia and the (Textual) Negotiation of an Academic Identity by University Students. Discourse & Communication, 5(2), 99–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, D. L., & Cohen, D. K. (1996). Reform by the Book: What Is or Might Be the Role of Curriculum Materials in Teacher Learning and Instructional Reform? Educational Researcher, 25(9), 6–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barthes, R. (1975). The Pleasure of the Text. New York: Hill and Wang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernhardt, M., & Friedburg, C. (2014). “Digital” vs. “Analog”? Zeitschrift für Geschichtsdidaktik, 13(1), 117–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2009). Visualizing English: A Social Semiotic History of a School Subject. Visual Communication, 8(3), 247–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. (2009). The Teacher-Tool Relationship: Theorizing the Design and Use of Curriculum Materials. In J. Remillard, B. A. Herbel-Eisenmann, & G. M. Lloyd (Eds.), Mathematics Teachers at Work: Connecting Curriculum Materials and Classroom Instruction (pp. 17–36). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, L. J. (1955). The Text in Use. In L. J. Cronbach (Ed.), Text Materials in Modern Education (pp. 188–216). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engert, K., & Krey, B. (2013). Das lesende Schreiben und das schreibende Lesen: Zur epistemischen Arbeit an und mit wissenschaftlichen Texten. Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 42(5), 366–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan, L., & Zhu, Y. (2007). Representation of Problem-Solving Procedures: A Comparative Look at China, Singapore, and US Mathematics Textbooks. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 66(1), 61–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenwick, T., & Edwards, R. (2010). Actor-Network Theory in Education. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, D. J., & Porter, A. C. (1989). Do Textbooks Dictate the Content of Mathematics Instruction in Elementary Schools? American Educational Research Journal, 26(3), 403–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, E. (2011). Aktuelle Entwicklungen der schulbuchbezogenen Forschung in Europa. Bildung und Erziehung, 64(1), 7–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, E., Niehaus, I., & Stoletzki, A. (2014). Das Schulbuch in der Forschung: Analysen und Empfehlungen für die Bildungspraxis. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gudmundsdottir, S. (1991). Story-Maker, Story-Teller: Narrative Structures in Curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 23(3), 207–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S. (1996). Encoding/Decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, D. A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, Media, Language (pp. 128–138). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heer, N. (2011). Das Schulbuch als textlinguistischer Analysegegenstand. In M. Foschi Albert, M. Hepp, E. Neuland, & M. Dalmas (Eds.), Texte unter sprachvergleichender und kulturkontrastiver Perspektive: Wege der akademischen Kooperation mit dem Ziel einer interkulturellen Germanistik (pp. 471–481). Munich: Iudicium.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbel-Eisenmann, B. A. (2007). From Intended Curriculum to Written Curriculum: Examining the “Voice” of a Mathematics Textbook. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 38(4), 344–369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hintz, K. (2014). “A Better Vision of What Social Studies Can Be”: How Elementary Teachers’ Philosophies Influence Their Use of the History Alive! Textbook. Theory & Research in Social Education, 42(1), 96–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, R., & Kress, G. (1988). Social Semiotics. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsley, M. (2002). New Studies Conducted by the Teaching Resources and Textbook Research Unit. In J. Mikk, V. Meisalo, H. Kukemik, & M. Horsley (Eds.), Learning and Educational Media. The 3rd IARTEM Volume (pp. 11–29). Tartu: Tartu University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsley, M., & Walker, R. (2005). Textbook Pedagogy: A Sociocultural Analysis. In M. Horsley, S. V. Knudsen, & S. Selander (Eds.), Has Past Passed? Textbooks and Educational Media for the 21st Century. The 7th IARTEM Volume (pp. 47–69). Stockholm: HLS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khamsi, K., & Han, C. (2014). The Portrayal of the Japanese Occupation in Singaporean Textbook Narratives. In P. Morris, E. Vickers, & N. Shimazu (Eds.), Imagining Japan in Post-War East Asia: Identity Politics, Schooling and Popular Culture (pp. 210–228). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, B. A. (2015). Teachers’ Use of Textbooks in the Digital Age. Cogent Education, 2(1), 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krämer, S. (2003). Writing, Notational Iconicity, Calculus: On Writing as a Cultural Technique. Modern Language Notes – German Issue, 118(3), 518–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, D. (1999). Exploring the Use of Textbooks in Key Stage 3 Geography Classrooms: A Small-Scale Study. The Curriculum Journal, 10(1), 85–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J. (2007). Pinboards and Books: Juxtaposing, Learning and Materiality. In D. W. Kritt & L. Winegar (Eds.), Education and Technology: Critical Perspectives, Possible Futures (pp. 125–149). Plymouth: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lithner, J. (2003). Students’ Mathematical Reasoning in University Textbook Exercises. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 52(1), 29–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubben, F., Campbell, B., Kasanda, C., Kapenda, H., Gaoseb, N., & Kandjeo-Marenga, U. (2003). Teachers’ Use of Textbooks: Practice in Namibian Science Classrooms. Educational Studies, 29(2–3), 109–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macgilchrist, F. (2012a). E-Schulbücher, iPads und, Interpassivität: Reflexionen über neue schulische Bildungsmedien und deren Subjektivationspotential. Bildungsforschung, 9(1), 180–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macgilchrist, F. (2012b). Global Subjects: Exploring Subjectivation Through Ethnography of Media Production. Pragmatics, 22(3), 417–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthes, E. (2014). Aktuelle Tendenzen der Schulbuch- bzw. der Bildungsforschung. In D. Wrobel & A. Müller (Eds.), Bildungsmedien für den Deutschunterricht: Vielfalt – Entwicklungen – Herausforderungen (pp. 17–26). Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohn, E., & Amann, K. (2006). Lernkörper. Kamera-ethnographische Studien zum Schülerjob. Begleitpublikation zur DVD-Video C 13 032. Tübingen: IWF Wissen und Medien.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicol, C. C., & Crespo, S. M. (2006). Learning to Teach with Mathematics Textbooks: How Preservice Teachers interpret and Use Curriculum Materials. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 62(3), 331–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hare, S., & Smith, J. M. (2012). The Customer Is Always Right? Resistance from College Students to E-Books as Textbooks. Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.4148/culs.v2i0.1615.

  • Pepin, B., & Haggarty, L. (2001). Mathematics Textbooks and Their Use in English, French and German Classrooms. Zentralblatt für Didaktik der Mathematik, 33(5), 158–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, B. J., & Phillips, F. (2007). Sink or Skim: Textbook Reading Behaviors of Introductory Accounting Students. Issues in Accounting Education, 22(1), 21–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pingel, F. (2009). UNESCO Guidebook on Textbook Research and Textbook Revision. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reckwitz, A. (2002). Towards a Theory of Social Practices: A Development in Culturalist Theorizing. European Journal of Social Theory, 5(2), 243–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Remillard, J. T. (2005). Examining Key Concepts in Research on Teachers’ Use of Mathematics Curricula. Review of Educational Research, 75(2), 211–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Repoussi, M., & Tutiaux-Guillon, N. (2010). New Trends in History Textbook Research: Issues and Methodologies Toward a School Historiography. Journal of Educational Media, Memory and, Society, 2(1), 154–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rezat, S. (2012). Interactions of Teachers’ and Students’ Use of Mathematics Textbooks. In G. Gueudet, B. Pepin, & L. Trouche (Eds.), From Text to “Lived” Resources (pp. 231–245). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rezat, S. (2013). The Textbook-In-Use: Students’ Utilization Schemes of Mathematics Textbooks Related to Self-Regulated Practicing. ZDM, 45(5), 659–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rockwell, E. (2006). La lecture scolaire comme pratique culturelle: Concepts pour l’étude de l’usage des manuels. Education et sociétés, 17(1), 29–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharrock, W., & Ikeya, N. (2000). Instructional Matter: Readable Properties of an Introductory Text in Matrix Algebra. In S. Hester & D. Francis (Eds.), Local Educational Order: Ethnomethodological Studies of Knowledge in Action (pp. 271–289). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sikorová, Z., & Cervenková, I. (2014). Styles of Textbook Use. The New Educational Review, 35(1), 112–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sosniak, L. A., & Stodolsky, S. S. (1993). Teachers and Textbooks: Materials Use in Four Fourth-Grade Classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 93(3), 249–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunderland, J., Cowley, M., Abdul Rahim, F., Leontzakou, C., & Shattuck, J. (2001). From Bias “In the Text” to “Teacher Talk Around the Text”: An Exploration of Teacher Discourse and Gendered Foreign Language Textbook Texts. Linguistics and Education, 11(3), 251–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, M. W. (2013). Replacing the “Teacher-Proof” Curriculum with the “Curriculum-Proof” Teacher: Toward More Effective Interactions with Mathematics Textbooks. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(3), 295–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torsti, P. (2007). How to Deal with a Difficult Past? History Textbooks Supporting Enemy Images in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 39(1), 77–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Towards a Semiotics of Typography. Information Design Journal, 14(2), 139–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vom Hau, M. (2009). Unpacking the School: Textbooks, Teachers, and the Construction of Nationhood in Mexico, Argentina, and Peru. Latin American Research Review, 44(3), 127–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waltz, S. B. (2006). Nonhumans Unbound: Actor-Network Theory and the Reconsideration of “Things” in Educational Foundations. Educational Foundations, 20(3–4), 51–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg, A., & Wiesner, E. (2011). Understanding Mathematics Textbooks Through Reader-Oriented Theory. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 76(1), 49–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Georg Kolbeck

  2. Department of Social Sciences, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany

    Tobias Röhl

Authors
  1. Georg Kolbeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tobias Röhl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georg Eckert Institute - Leibniz-Institute for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany

    Eckhardt Fuchs

  2. Georg Eckert Institute - Leibniz-Institute for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany

    Annekatrin Bock

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kolbeck, G., Röhl, T. (2018). Textbook Practices: Reading Texts, Touching Books. In: Fuchs, E., Bock, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_29

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_29

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53141-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53142-1

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation