textbook

n.
A book used in schools or colleges for the formal study of a subject.

adj.
Being a characteristic example of its kind; classic: a textbook case of schizophrenia.

textbookish text'book'ish adj.

Textbooks constitute the de facto curriculum in many disciplines. Especially at the secondary level, where 85 percent of the nation's students take courses before graduation, American history is a controversial area because of disputes over content and interpretation. U.S. history texts include the study of continental geography, political history, economic development, social history, and diverse cultures. Private corporations provide textbooks to state and local governments for a profit, an arrangement that differs from that prevailing in most industrialized countries, where the national government creates the curriculum and publishes textbooks. The total domestic market for instructional materials was an estimated $5 billion in 1992, of which more than $2 billion represented elementary and high school materials. Because the public-school systems of Texas and California buy so many textbooks, many corporations tailor the contents of their publications to meet the interests and needs of schools in those two states.

Since 1970 there have been considerable changes in textbooks, especially in U.S. history and social studies because of the influence of social history, revisionism, and multiculturalism on curriculum composition. Publishers expended considerable effort to make texts redress earlier omissions. Nevertheless, the state-level controversies of the late 1980s and early 1990s in California and New York showed that textbook publishers remained beset by the demands of special-interest groups, including ethnic activists, feminists, the disabled, environmentalists, homosexuals, and religious groups, all of whom desire favorable and prominent treatment. Such pressures make it difficult for publishers to balance academic integrity against market requirements. Several federal court cases in the 1980s reflect the perennial disputes over textbook censorship, content, and interpretation. Challenges have arisen over biology, health, literature, and history texts. Three significant federal cases originated in local complaints that textbooks promote secular humanism (Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, 1986), atheism (Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools, 1987), and the theory of evolution (Aguillard v. Edwards, 1987).

Textbooks remain useful and efficient devices for learning in all formal subjects, offering organized, convenient sequences of ideas and information for structured teaching and learning. In the 1990s schools at all levels began to experiment with CD-ROMs and other video technologies as curriculum supplements. The classroom use of CD-ROM reference works, electronic atlases, and on-line databases continues to grow, but it is far from certain that such media will supplant textbooks.

Bibliography

Altbach, Philip G., Gail P. Kelly, Hugh G. Petrie, and Lois Weiss, eds. Textbooks in American Society: Politics, Policy, and Pedagogy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991.

Apple, Michael W., and Linda K. Christian-Smith, eds. The Politics of the Textbook. New York: Routledge, 1991.

DelFattore, Joan. What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Book Censorship in America. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992.

Jenkinson, Edward B. Censors in the Classroom: The Mind Benders. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1979.

This entry consists of the following articles:

• Overview of Textbooks
• Textbooks: School Textbooks in the United States

IN BRIEF: A book used for instruction in or study of a subject.

A people's literature is the great textbook for real knowledge of them. — Edith Hamilton (1867-1963)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - tekstbog, lærebog
adj. - lærebogs-, skole-

idioms:

• textbook example    lærebogseksempel

Nederlands (Dutch)
leerboek, volgens het boekje

Français (French)
n. - manuel
adj. - parfait, exemplaire

idioms:

• textbook example    exemple parfait

Deutsch (German)
n. - Lehrbuch
adj. - Parade-, Bilderbuch-, wie aus dem Lehrbuch

idioms:

• textbook example    Musterbeispiel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - διδακτικό ή σχολικό βιβλίο, εγχειρίδιο (οδηγιών κ.λπ.)
adj. - χαρακτηριστικός, τυπικός, υποδειγματικός

idioms:

• textbook example    κλασικό παράδειγμα

Italiano (Italian)
testo, testuale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - livro escolar (m), livro didático (m)

idioms:

• textbook example    livro (m) didático específico

Русский (Russian)
руководство, учебник, хрестоматийный (пример)

Español (Spanish)
n. - libro de texto
adj. - modélico, ejemplar

idioms:

• textbook example    ejemplo clásico, arquetipo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - lärobok, skolbok, handbok, textbok, mönstergill
adj. - typiskt, skol-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
教科书, 课本, 合乎规范的

idioms:

• textbook example    课本上的例子, 完全符合规定的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 教科書, 課本
adj. - 合乎規範的

idioms:

• textbook example    課本上的例子, 完全符合規定的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 교과서, 교본
adj. - 교과서의, 표준의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 教科書

idioms:

• textbook example    模範例

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) كتاب مدرسي (صفه) الكتاب المدرسي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮ספר-לימוד‬
adj. - ‮של הוראה, מופתי, מדויק‬

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