Multiple Textbooks: Multidimensional Reality

GD&TĐ - After several years of implementing the policy of socializing textbook compilation, Vietnam now has 3 sets of textbooks approved for use in schools.

These are all sets of books that ensure quality requirements, help increase choices, encourage innovation, and proactive creativity of teachers... However, the practice of selecting and using many sets of textbooks also faces some difficulties and challenges.

Opportunities come with challenges

Mr. Tran Binh Trong - teacher of Dinh Thanh High School (Dinh Thanh Commune, Ca Mau), believes that having multiple sets of textbooks in a curriculum increases the choice, flexibility and creativity for both teachers and students. At educational institutions, teachers can choose a set of textbooks that are suitable for the characteristics of students, regional conditions and school facilities. Moreover, teachers have more resources to refer to, research, improve their qualifications and supplement new knowledge.

“Same problem, but each set of textbooks has different, more vivid examples, reflecting regional cultural diversity and local characteristics. That helps students feel closer and understand more easily,” said Mr. Trong.

In addition, having many sets of books also encourages the spirit of innovation and creativity. Publishers and editorial teams must compete fairly, thereby investing more in creating good, easy-to-understand, and lively sets of books, avoiding the situation of textbook monopoly.

However, according to Mr. Trong, a program with many textbooks also puts pressure on teachers in teaching and testing. “Having many books requires teachers to read, compare, and prepare lessons more carefully, which takes time; some teachers are also rigid in the way they give answers, leading to arguments. In addition, each set of textbooks has a different presentation, examples, and structure, making students worry that they are lacking or have deviated from the general exam focus, creating insecurity and loss of confidence,” he said.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Ho Thanh Tung - teacher of Vo Thi Sau Secondary School ( Bac Lieu Ward, Ca Mau) shared that the policy of socializing textbook compilation is correct, demonstrating the spirit of innovation in education, promoting creativity and initiative of the team of authors and teachers. However, the implementation shows that using many sets of textbooks at the same time also arises many difficulties.

“The content of the textbooks differs in presentation, knowledge level, illustrative examples, etc., leading to a lack of consistency in teaching. Management, inspection, and evaluation among teachers, schools, and localities also become complicated,” said Mr. Tung.

For difficult mountainous areas and ethnic minority students, Mr. Nguyen Dac Thuan - Principal of Ta Tong Primary and Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities (Ta Tong Commune, Lai Chau ) said that current textbooks have focused on regional factors, expressed through lessons related to nature, customs, and local culture.

“This helps ethnic minority students feel more familiar, confident and interested in learning. The diversity of textbooks also promotes teachers’ creativity, proactively choosing appropriate teaching methods, to create more lively and attractive lessons,” said Mr. Thuan.

Mr. Le Dinh Chuyen - Principal of Nam Manh Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Nam Hang Commune, Lai Chau) expressed the opinion that a unified set of textbooks should be selected and used for convenience. Then, subsequent courses can reuse them, easily exchange content and save costs.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Thien Ha - Principal of Thanh Tin Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Tuyen Quang) mentioned the problem that when each locality and school uses a different set of textbooks, students and parents who want to transfer schools will face difficulties.

A lesson by Mr. Tran Binh Trong - teacher at Dinh Thanh High School (Dinh Thanh Commune, Ca Mau). Photo: Quach Men

Overcoming shortcomings

Natural Science is the subject with the biggest adjustment in the 2018 General Education Program when integrating 3 subjects Physics - Chemistry - Biology and implementing teaching from grade 6. However, in recent years, this is also a subject with many concerns and problems in implementation due to the lack of teachers to teach the new subject and inconsistent teaching, testing and assessment methods.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Quang - teacher of Hien Son Secondary School (Bach Ha Commune, Nghe An) said that the advantage of Natural Science in current textbooks is that it is taught in the direction of developing students' abilities. The lessons are built in an integrated direction, helping students apply the knowledge they have learned to solve practical life problems.

However, not all teachers can meet the requirements and achieve the above goals. Currently, teachers are mainly trained in a single subject, but having to teach 3 subjects will affect the quality of teaching. For students, the assessment process is difficult because not all students have the same ability in Physics - Chemistry - Biology.

Similarly, History - Geography - a new subject in the 2018 General Education Program. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Van - Geography teacher, Hung Hoa Secondary School, (Truong Vinh ward, Nghe An) commented that the textbooks that the school is using to teach students have many advantages.

“The content has a fairly suitable knowledge structure from grade 6 to grade 9, including general information, world geography, Vietnam, etc. The textbooks are also updated with many new, concise data, suitable for students' abilities. However, there are some integrated contents between History and Geography, and teachers who want to teach well have to research and learn more, which is quite difficult,” Ms. Van shared.

With the above reality, many teachers who are teaching integrated subjects in Nghe An hope that when the State has a policy of switching from many sets of textbooks to using a common set, there should be adjustments to facilitate students' knowledge acquisition as well as teachers' teaching.

Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu - Principal of Bui Thi Xuan High School (HCMC), pointed out 3 main shortcomings of the current model: Financial burden, "chaos" of knowledge for students and lack of a common standard for testing and evaluation. Mr. Phu pointed out that finding and buying textbooks has become difficult. Each school can choose many different textbooks, each subject also has many options, even each set of books has many books.

This forces parents to buy many books, including textbooks, exercise books, reference books, and thematic books... the total cost therefore increases. In addition, the lack of standards is also a big problem when the same content appears to have different ways of reading and understanding. "Although diversity was initially expected to be good, in the current context, it causes many difficulties for parents, students, and schools," the Principal explained.

Natural Science class at Dung Hop Secondary School (Tan Ky commune, Nghe An). Photo: Ho Lai

Expect stability and consistency

Mr. Tang Xuan Son, Principal of Thong Thu 1 Primary School for Ethnic Minorities (Thong Thu, Nghe An) said that the school is using a combination of 3 sets of textbooks. In which, the Fine Arts and Creative Activities subjects use the Creative Horizons set, the Information Technology subject uses materials from Vinh University Publishing House, and the remaining subjects use the Connecting Knowledge with Life set.

After the first school year, which was still full of confusion, the following years gradually stabilized teaching and learning, promoting positive results. Ethnic minority students were given books that were appropriate to their knowledge acquisition ability and psychological characteristics such as liking vivid visuals, many images, easy to remember, understand, friendly, etc. Teachers were also trained and nurtured to teach in a way that promoted learners' abilities, proactively using appropriate teaching materials.

“If we move towards using a unified set of textbooks, I hope to be able to inherit the values ​​of the current sets of textbooks. In addition, there needs to be more guidance and orientation for teaching students in mountainous areas and ethnic minorities. At the same time, to promote the superiority of the 2018 General Education Program, I hope the Ministry of Education and Training will continue to allow and encourage teachers to creatively and flexibly apply many teaching materials to suit the reality of each school and the characteristics of different students,” Mr. Tang Xuan Son shared.

Regarding concerns that using a unified set of textbooks will lead to a return to passive and dependent teaching methods, Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu - Principal of Bui Thi Xuan High School said: The unified set of textbooks will act as the "standard" or "backbone" of knowledge.

Teachers rely on this unified set of books to build lessons, and proactively update new knowledge, supplement from the Internet and other sources to enrich lesson content. Create a solid foundation for teachers and students to develop, not a "rule" to follow mechanically.

Mr. Le Hoang Du - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ca Mau province commented that a program with many textbooks is a progressive teaching program. The textbooks are basically of good quality, consistent with the goals and requirements of the 2018 General Education Program. The problem is that there are many sets but there is no overall, objective assessment of the level of suitability for each region and group of students.

Some contents in the textbooks are still academic, theoretical, lacking practical application or not suitable for the conditions of difficult areas. Overcoming these shortcomings will create convenience for teachers, learners and ensure the spirit of the 2018 General Education Program.

Ms. Dam Thi Hanh - Geography teacher, Ham Yen Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities (Tuyen Quang) shared that having many sets of books makes teachers have to spend more time comparing, contrasting, and redesigning lessons to match the knowledge standards of the program, not being completely dependent on any set of books. Each set of textbooks has different materials, data, and approaches, so selecting good students or teaching graduation exam preparation is also difficult.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/nhieu-bo-sach-giao-khoa-thuc-te-da-chieu-post753391.html