What is the basis for a unified set of textbooks?

Quality and consistency are our top priorities.

After Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW was issued, many experts and teachers proposed solutions to build a unified set of textbooks for nationwide use. Among them, three popular solutions are: Compiling a completely new set of textbooks, separate from the current sets; choosing one of the three current textbook sets as a basis, then upgrading and revising it into a unified set of textbooks; selecting the best books in each subject from the current textbook sets to form a new set of textbooks.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Le Huy Hoang - Deputy Head of the Department of Education , Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission, the three above options all have their own advantages and disadvantages. If a completely new set of textbooks is compiled, separate from the current sets, it will create uniformity and consistency from the beginning, and have the opportunity to most fully reflect the innovation directions stated in Resolution No. 71/NQ-TW. However, due to the complexity and huge workload, compiling a new set of textbooks within a year is not feasible, posing potential risks to quality.

The option of choosing one of the three current textbooks as a basis, then upgrading and modifying it into a unified textbook set has the advantage of fully inheriting the philosophy and structure of a set of books, saving time and costs. However, the limitation is that not all subjects in the selected set of books are of good quality, which risks affecting the overall quality of the set of books.

Selecting the best books in each subject from the current textbooks to create a new textbook set will ensure the quality of each subject, but there is a risk of inconsistency in philosophy, pedagogical style and continuity between levels. For a unified national textbook set, this can be considered a significant limitation.

“No matter which option is chosen, the compilation process must ensure objectivity, transparency and science , especially when inheriting current textbooks; the quality and consistency of the textbooks must be the number one priority, placed above all, first and foremost; the innovation policy of Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW must be fully reflected in the ideology, structure, content, pedagogical methods and learning materials in the entire textbook series,” said Associate Professor, Dr. Le Huy Hoang.

Sharing about the development of a unified set of textbooks, Mr. Dang Tu An - Director of the Vietnam Education Innovation Fund said that this is an opportunity to edit and improve the textbooks that have been used over the past 5 years, to approach more closely to program standards, subject standards and facilitate management, professional activities of schools, and implement social security...

Emphasizing the many advantages of having a unified set of textbooks, Mr. Dang Tu An also identified the biggest difficulty in solving the conflict between the desire to have a common set of textbooks that are standard, scientific, modern, and up-to-date with a very short completion time. "I think we have to think about having a set of textbooks that are situational and can be used for 1-2 years so that we have time to build a completely new set of textbooks, inheriting the current sets of textbooks," Mr. Dang Tu An stated his opinion.

Leveraging collective intelligence and practical experience

Pointing out some advantages at this time, when building a unified set of textbooks, Mr. Nguyen Viet Huy - Deputy Head of General Education Department, Department of Education and Training of Hung Yen especially emphasized that we have had a source of textbooks that have been carefully built over the years.

Mr. Huy said that the process of compiling textbooks to implement the 2108 General Education Program has mobilized a large team of teachers, scientists, education experts... with 3,844 authors nationwide participating.

The current textbooks are the crystallization of the intelligence of a large group of authors, elaborately built over many years, including reference to the textbook compilation experience of developed countries in the world. This is a valuable resource if they are selected and reused to put into a new set of textbooks for common use.

All current textbooks are assessed and approved by the Ministry of Education and Training according to a strict and scientific process; selected by general education institutions and put into teaching through a cycle of implementing the 2018 General Education Program from grades 1 to 12.

Therefore, teachers can evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each content in different textbooks to edit and improve them, so that they can be included in a common textbook set. In addition, the compilation progress can be accelerated while still ensuring quality if artificial intelligence (AI) is used to analyze and synthesize the contributions of teachers nationwide; distill the essence of current textbooks; support the handling of technical requirements, etc.

In the case of implementing the solution of building a unified set of textbooks by distilling the quintessence from three current textbooks, Mr. Le Anh Tuan - Editor of the Music Program mentioned the advantage that the existing textbooks were all carefully compiled, through the evaluation of the National Appraisal Council and approved by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Thus, there are already sample documents, activities, exercises, illustrations, and test questions, which helps save time in compiling from scratch. The publishing, printing, and distribution system is already available. Along with that, there is the advantage of human resources, experts, lecturers, and teachers with experience who have participated in compiling current textbooks who can give comments and corrections.

The 2018 General Education Program Framework has provided a foundation of goals and standards, which can be based on current competency standards and content requirements for comparison...

However, the difficulties that may be encountered will be related to the diversity of regional educational realities; differences in pedagogical philosophy/perspective between current ministries; legal and copyright issues; teacher training requirements... Successful implementation requires a pilot roadmap, transparent criteria, legal measures with authors/publishers, and strong investment in teacher training and a supporting materials ecosystem.

With many years of working in the education sector, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Doc Binh Kieu commune (Dong Thap province) said that building a unified set of textbooks on the basis of inheriting three current sets of books helps to select the best part, forming a comprehensive, modern set of books, balancing between theory and practice.

This approach not only respects and promotes the efforts and intelligence of the team of authors, but also helps to summarize the quintessence from the practice of compiling and teaching, unifying knowledge and skill standards for students nationwide; at the same time, saving time and costs when taking advantage of available content. Unified and scientific documents help teachers to be more convenient in teaching.

In addition to the advantages, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh also gave some notes related to copyright issues, continuity, differences in style and language, and training implementation. “It can be said that inheriting three sets of current textbooks helps promote collective intelligence, save resources, and promote the efforts of the team of textbook authors.

However, it is necessary to prepare carefully in terms of legality, pedagogy, science and coordination mechanism for successful and sustainable implementation. I also recommend making the most of the remaining books approved by the Ministry of Education and Training to build them into reference materials," said Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh.

“With the highest political determination of the Ministry of Education and Training, the enthusiasm of the authors and the consensus and sharing of the publishers, I believe that we will overcome difficulties and challenges to soon have a set of quality common textbooks, meeting the expectations of all classes of people, completing the political tasks assigned by the Party and the State,” Mr. Nguyen Viet Huy shared.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/nen-tang-nao-cho-mot-bo-sach-giao-khoa-thong-nhat-post753674.html