This study aims to present implications for the appropriate establishment and development of a scienceauthorized textbook system through an understanding of the process of selecting science-authorized textbooks and analyzing the perception of teachers...
This study aims to present implications for the appropriate establishment and development of a scienceauthorized textbook system through an understanding of the process of selecting science-authorized textbooks and analyzing the perception of teachers. Toward this end, this study conducted interviews with five elementary school teachers who participated in the science textbook selection process, surveys on 32 teachers, and analysis on the authors of the textbooks. The result demonstrated, first, that the “opinion gathering” stage was the most important one, and a council was formed in consideration of career and major. Moreover, the evaluation standard was reorganized and used according to the situation of the school. Second, in the process of opinion gathering, the teachers used a method for reviewing the entire textbook for each teacher. Inquiry activities and textbook composition (readability) were crucially considered as internal factors, and teaching and learning materials, such as videos, were deemed extremely important as external factors. The variable of the author, which is an indicator of the reliability and expertise of textbooks, was also recognized as vital. Third, the deliberation by the School Committee and the report by the principal were recognized as the administrative final step after selection. Finally, selecting the most suitable textbooks for each grade group was recognized as more important than arbitrarily unifying textbooks for the third and fourth grades and for the fifth and sixth grades.