Results and prospects of textbook research in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The paper presents a survey of studies and research approaches concerning Czech textbooks that have been performed to date. In fact, the first analyses of school textbooks and primers were accomplished during the 1930s by Czech educationists and psychologists (V. Príhoda and others). Recently, this analytical trend has continued, and is being intensively further developed in a number of studies. This is evidenced in a number of monographs and papers published by Czech researchers in several faculties of education, among them at the University of Ostrava. The most remarkable research findings concern the following topics: Parameters of textual components of textbooks; measuring text difficulty for pupils; content representation in textbooks; utilization of textbooks in learning and teaching; selection of textbooks by teachers and schools. However, some new problems have arisen that have as yet not been profoundly studied, among them especially the role of printed textbooks vs. new educational ICT media.