The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) today called on school book publishers to review their marketing and sales strategies to show greater sensitivity in recognising the pressures facing parents in the face of rising unemployment and lower wages.
The union has also called on the Department of Education and Skills to introduce protocols in the area with special reference to the frequency of new editions of text books. 

Speaking today, TUI President Bernie Ruane said:

“Teachers are reporting with increasing frequency that tactics used by publishing companies are leaving schools with little option but to use the very latest edition of textbooks.”

“In both Junior and Leaving Certificate cycles, new editions of books are released every other year even when no syllabus change has taken place.  In many cases content has only been slightly reorganised as opposed to changed. This makes it very difficult for each student in a particular class group to obtain the same version of particular editions. The use of multiple editions is clearly detrimental to quality teaching and learning, with teachers losing a significant amount of class time providing clarifications to students.”

“Some publishers now publish new editions containing worksheets, notes for online content or updated content on a topic. However, teachers believe that these could be published separately from the main textbook and sold to schools at a much lesser charge. Such an approach would allow schools and families to recycle the main edition of a textbook, saving money for parents, ensuring that teachers would have access to new resources while the publishers would still have a ready market for the newer material.”

Digital divide
“This constant updating and review of written textbooks draws sharp attention to the continued inadequate access to the hardware and software that would enable a much greater and more effective use of digital media and internet access in the classroom. As long as there is uneven and limited access to information technology, publishers will be able to find creative ways to maintain a demand for new editions even if the cost is unjustifiably high.”

Publishing practices
“Parents should be clear on what is happening – some publishers have adopted a stance that makes it almost impossible for teachers to stay with a particular edition of a textbook for any longer than one cycle.  This practice should be challenged by the Department of Education and Skills by way of introducing protocols around publishing practices. We know that education is far from free in Ireland but the business community has a responsibility to keep costs down. Needless to say, this impacts worse on the unemployed and people with large families.”

“TUI acknowledges the fact that the grant to enable schools to continue to offer a book rental scheme was re-instated as part of the programme for government in 2009 and issued to schools in June.  However it is concerned that the incorporation of this into the general capitation grant will not ensure that families of greatest need receive the necessary support with books and other necessary resources. It is also concerned that no distinction is being made with regard to the student profile of a school – all students are weighted in the same manner irrespective of the employment income status or income level of parents. While administratively attractive, this may give further advantage to some schools and students while placing others at a disadvantage.  We urge a review of the revised approach in two to three years.”

Moratorium
“An added concern is that the moratorium on appointments to public service posts has resulted in many schools losing the administrative post that would previously have organised and administered book rental schemes within schools, will lead to further restrictions in the area. The organisation of the book rental scheme in a school must be very sensitively, carefully and discreetly handled to ensure that the most disadvantaged students benefit most in terms of alleviating the cost of books. This cannot be done without the staff to manage and implement the book rental scheme.”    

The practice is not confined to one subject or one publisher and the following are just examples to illustrate some general issues.

Case Study 1
A new edition of Lifelines, a key and recent textbook for Home Economics Senior Cycle has just been published and marketed to schools this year without any change to the syllabus. While this is a subject area where new information emerges on a regular basis the core details remain broadly the same and updates should not require the publication of entire new textbooks within short timeframes. We understand that the new edition has changes to layout which while attractive are not essential. It includes some updated details and statistics that could easily be provided separately at a lesser cost to students. It also includes a CD with a range of presentations and access to other digital based resources.  These will no doubt be helpful to the teaching and learning process. It seems however that they have been designed for use only in tandem with the new edition of the textbook, placing teachers in a bind to order the new edition for the new cycle of students.  The TUI believes that the CD and access to online content could have been effectively designed independent of a particular edition of the main textbook. Furthermore it could have incorporated a section on new data and statistics as appropriate.   

Case Study 2
English textbook New Explorations was discontinued after five years although there has been no change to the syllabus. This forced schools to migrate to a new textbook even where schools operate a book rental scheme as the availability of a full set of second hand texts for a class is not guaranteed. In the absence of a full set of books teachers have to opt for a full set of a new or different edition.