Do we really need course books these days? I say no!

[Dante]

I know there are some teachers and schools that don't force their students to buy coursebooks. How do others feel about this? Coursebooks can be limiting, non-diverse, costly, outdated on first day of printing and aging and not fresh thereafter, etc. Now that the Internet is in all reaches of Mexico, isn't it time to move away from being slaves to mostly boring books ... and take advantage of an organic and alive Internet full of current and diverse material?

In other parts of the world, schools are moving away from the stronghold of publishers that push to sell a product to classes that are project oriented and inquiry based using the Internet and real- and virtual life authentic materials, thus creating a more valuable pedagogic experience that prepares students with 21st century skills in a globalized world.

Books are great for classics, like works of Edgar Alan Poe that remain classically static. Are we ready to get out from under the weight of books and modernize our classroom practices. Or do teachers still need the crutch to limp along as always?

With a good curriculum and syllabus and trained teachers, one laptop per student (and interactive whiteboards, etc) is a better investment than all the money that parents spend on books that only last 1 year and are outdated and boring; and have to been heavily modified anyway to meet the unique needs of our learners. Are course books really constructivist since the feed a pre-decided context, content, sequencing and specific grammar in a linear fashion?

[selene angulo]

Hi I´m selene
I do not agree with you because nowadays books are still useful, you are just think about students with a high or medium economic level but my friend what about the students who are poor? imagine if they can´t buy a book. Do you think they will buy a laptop? of course not. It is going to depend in the place you are teaching.
For example I started to work in a new program called "inglés en primarias" and this is for public school and I am really worried about my student because they do not have the enough support to buy all the material they need so I think you should consider it and be more specific that books are not use it in private institutions maybe but in public education it is essential.
I wish you could check my discussion and reply me please. I really need it. thanks and have a nice day.

[yolanda]

not all the time we have to use or follow the text book, but it is nessesary so we can know what we are teaching and guid our students so that they wont be lost.

[Luann Smith]

I agree with most of what you say. I taught ESL in Spain for 3 years to native Spaniards plus a mixed class. I did have a "workbook" type text to "guide" but I found it stilted and insulting to the adult learner. So I used newspapers, magazines and well written bilingual books to supplement this "text". I truly believe that the textbook is only a tool and not the end all for teaching any subject. However, it must be known that when you go "outside" the box, it requires more work from the instructor. This does not bother me as I have been teaching that way for 32 years. However, some of my younger colleagues do not want to spend the time it takes to create and interesting, innovative course.

Having said this, I do see a point in having textual material. However, I usually provide the students with what I want them to have via handouts, computer sites, etc.

[Frank]

A book is only a guide anyway. If we are truly giving constructivist classes with differentiated instruction, then only a syllabus, curriculum, and the teacher's planning are really crucial. One book only is really insufficient anyway. A teacher should be using a range of resources and aids taken from a diversity of sources to meet the needs of the students in their classroom.

Are most teachers prepared or ready to really jump into inquiry-based, authentic, constructivist instruction? Probably most are not; so they lean on a primary coursebook to get through the year as best that they can. I truly believe that most teachers do the very best that they can. But can we do better? Sure. But, training and resources are critical to getting there.

Even with the lack of technology in many schools and regions, a single coursebook is not necessary to create a constructivist environment. So I don't see lack of technology as a reason to use a book, when all a teacher really needs is to know and have experience giving constructivist classes, with or without technology. In today's world, however, technology is important; we can't just simply toss it to the side. We need to help to change things. A task-based framework gives the flexibility for a variety of activity types and learning objectives (set by a teacher not a book). Books by their nature are somewhat LINEAR and promote a structured unit-to-unit sequence. Do we really learn that way? We know that language learning is not that structured, that it is more constructivist. So in that light, a coursebook could even force unnatural learning if strictly followed to by a teacher. We need to reach all children in different ways.

While I am not advocating getting rid of coursebooks just yet (don't want a bunch of publishers after me, ha ha ha), at the same time I would like to see less and less reliance on them with classes being much more organic, creative, authentic as possible (cross-curricular projects, community activities, blogging, making digital movies/stories, podcasting, creating online newspapers, virtual projects, technology and non-technology inquiry based projects, etc.).

With Mexico being smack in the middle of a globalized world like everyone else now, we need to focus on FLAT CLASSROOMS, and classrooms WITHOUT WALLS to prepare learners with the 21st Century skills that they need. A child living in a rural community today just may be running a multinational company tomorrow.

But we DO need to move in the direction in a productive and sensible fashion, so... maybe we should be talking about how to get started, rather than holding back and not seeing obstacles as a challenge or opportunities to move forward? Change can be scary to some and exciting to others. Our learners needs should set the tone and drive where we go, not our own fears.

LET THE SHIFT BEGIN! OUR LEARNERS DESERVE AND NEED IT! We have to start with teachers first (training and development), so the fact that all students don't have access to technology right now is a secondary concern .. we can start to address that as teachers are getting prepared.

Education is an exciting place to be these days. Of that I am certain.

[Frank]

In this video, leading ELT teacher and teacher educator Scott Thornbury says, "As much as I love coursebooks, but...."

And notice that Scott's materials come from authentic sources rather that an ELT coursebook. He suggests that coursebooks aren't very good at recycling productive vocabulary from unit to unit, due to the change in topics.So even if we use coursebooks, we need to heavily supplement them with additional materials.

[Belemtu]

Well you have a point!
In this days should exist only technology around us, but not all the people have the opportunity to buy a personal computer and I think that books are great to practice what students just learnt!
But yeah computer are more interesting and cooler jaja
well see ya! =)
take care =)
ps. I invite you to comment in my disussion called "Kinesthetic Kids.How sholud we act?" I hope that you leave a comment =)
thank you =)

[Belemtu]

oh you never replied in my discussion Kinesthetic kids. How should we act? I'm sad =(
just kidding but i would liked that you participate
see ya

[Frank]

Ok .. I am at MEXTESOL until Sunday .. but I will .. thanks!

Belemtu said:

oh you never replied in my discussion Kinesthetic kids. How should we act? I'm sad =(
just kidding but i would liked that you participate
see ya

[Leigh Thelmadatter]

Im not a big fan of textbooks either. For those who claim problems with money, remember that many Mexican students must buy their own textbooks and then write in them. What a boon to publishers! In this situation, I can imagine that students, esp. those in the advanced levels in English where textbooks really are useless at best, can always just print out something or interact with it at a cafe if they dont have their own computer or Internet access at home. I see many students doing homework at cafes. ( I use them instead of having a connection at home so that I sleep at 3 am instead of chatting! ... but my resolve is slowly breaking down)

As stated before, textbooks are stifling and are created more to make teachers' lives easier (as they are the ones who decide what the students buy) than for students' education.

Even static works such as literature, are available online with the Gutenburg Project and other places.

Count me as anti-textbook, at least at the advanced level, which is what I have experience in.

[Michael Nolan]

Why should we try to reinvent the wheel? I think textbooks are very useful at beginning and intermediate levels. Advanced students probably have more specific needs that cannot be met easily with textbooks.

When you do use a textbook, you don't have to follow it along blindly. You can change the order, skip lessons, or replace them with others. You can modify lessons and add activities.

Most textbooks include a variety of task-based and grammar based activities; clear, colorful pictures; and a mixture of real and modified English. They are often backed by a lexis that reflects actual use. More often than not they encompass a variety of methods and approaches.

[Melissa]

I'm a big fan of Scot Thornbury and if all English teachers in Mexico and the world were well qualified then, YES! Let's burn all the text books. But that is not the case, and a good textbook is a god send to the industry. Take a book like New English File which has a wonderful teacher's book. My school used to use English File and sometimes, especially when I was pregnant with twins, I didn't have the time or energy to plan out my lessons and find good material. So I opened the teacher's book, read the lesson plan, which came with two warmer suggestions, extension activities, details on how to present new language, and other information the teacher might need during the lesson. I did just what it said and gave some dynamite classes. That really made me realize that all those teachers round the world who have little no training, could do a very good job if they had teacher's manuals like this one.