TEXTOOK OF THE YEAR 2021: TREND TOWARDS INDIVIDUALISATION AND INTERACTION
- Eight nominations for lower secondary school textbooks in the categories: society, languages and STEM.
- Active dissemination of media skills increasing
The Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research (GEI) has awarded the prize for Textbook of the Year annually since 2012. The award allows the Institute, and its partners the bpd (Federal Agency for Civic Education) and the Didacta Association, to recognise and honour publishers, editors and authors for the design of innovative textbooks, which remain a fundamental component of educational media for schools. In 2021 the award will be given to the best textbooks for lower secondary level in the categories society, languages and STEM. The winners will be announced in May.
The balance between current topics, innovative didactic methods and the application of modern media
Good educational media are expected to meet increasingly high standards in terms of content, didactic methods and design, not only by target readers, but also the jury. The eight textbooks nominated for the Textbook of the Year 2021 demonstrate the success with which the publishers, editors, authors and others involved in the books’ production have met these challenges. Using references to everyday life, multifaceted didactic methods and appropriate formats, it is possible to use a range of different media to produce successful teaching materials. The respective concepts create new stimuli for the dissemination of knowledge within school education that reach far beyond the individual subject areas.
‘The prevailing trend towards individualisation, which is strongly oriented to the needs of each pupil, is clearly visible in the nominated textbooks. It is clear that teaching materials are no longer simply used to disseminate knowledge, rather they are increasingly viewed as catalysts for communication and interaction with one’s own environment’, explains Prof. Eckhardt Fuchs, director of the Georg Eckert Institute and chair of the jury.
The increased importance placed on multimedia skills in all categories, and the nomination of the textbook for media and computer studies in the STEM category, clearly illustrate that the textbook sector has a heightened awareness of the requirements of digital societies. Bpb president Thomas Krüger's hope that 'in the future [there will be] not only more digital textbooks but also more coverage in lessons of the subject of digitisation' is increasingly becoming reality.
The award is under the patronage of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the German Länder (KMK). This year Britta Ernst, minster for education, youth and sport in the state of Brandenburg, is president of the KMK. ‘Textbooks have a significant role in the education success of children and young people that should not be underestimated, as well as in helping to create equal education opportunities. They are versatile and can be used to recap and prepare subject matter, to provide stimuli and in many other roles, done well they can also pique interest in a subject and provide motivation, particularly through intelligent use of digital options. For these reasons I am delighted to preside over an award that ultimately aims to improve this central teaching material’ said the president of the KMK.
The nominations can be viewed here: http://www.gei.de/en/awards/textbook-of-the-year/nominations/2021.html
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