Book Reviews

Carol Priestley

Textbooks in the Third World: Policy, Content and Context.
Edited by Philip G. Altbach and Gail P. Kelly.
New York: Garland Publishing, 1988.
ISBN 0–8240–4924–8, 284 p. $38.00.

Altbach and Kelly are faculty members associated with the Comparative Education Center of the State University of New York. Together with some of their students they have been exploring issues connected with probably the most important education resource in the Third World after the teacher, and the one that has received the least attention: the textbook. The result of their work (and of a few other contributors) is to be found in this volume. It does not aim to be a definitive study of textbooks in the Third World, but it does contain useful reviews of the themes connected with the subject as well as a series of perceptive examinations of critical — at times controversial — issues. The authors come to grips with key problems such as the language that textbooks should be written in, the relationship between texts and the values or ideology that the state may wish to promote, and the continuing legacy of colonialism exhibited by the use of European textbooks.

The work is in two parts. The first concentrates on government and international agency policies regarding the provision of texts to developing countries. A useful overview of the problems is followed by an analysis of the economic, social, and pedagogic questions involved in textbook writing for both primary and secondary schools. Then there is a study of similar points from the perspective of tertiary education. Textbook practices are examined in the context of the interwar French colonial administrations in Indochina and West Africa (a long article that perhaps tells us more about French colonial history), and in an article that looks at the origins of India’s textbook culture.

In the second part, six papers consider the content of textbooks. These studies usefully include copious examples from texts to show how closely they mirror the life of the audiences for whom they are written and the relationship between textbook content and state policies or ideology. A study of French textbooks used in Togo shows the disparity between the roles of women portrayed in the books and the role played by women in Togolese society. An examination of the attempt by Malaysian educational authorities to promote national unity and a national consciousness demonstrates how this has been done at the expense of non–Malay cultures.

Three articles illustrate how the content of textbooks is manipulated to meet the needs of states in revolutionary situations, in Tanzania, Iran, and China. The case of China is a graphic instance of permeating ideology, even in mathematics, a discipline less culturally dependent than most. A particularly instructive paper compares the contents of texts in Tanzania and Kenya; it shows how a false picture of a child’s “lived culture” may stem from locally produced texts as well as from texts with neocolonial origins. Nor does a comparison of English–language texts used in Nigeria with Ibo language texts always show the latter to be more truthful than the former. In the Nigerian text the child is portrayed as “clever, intelligent, kind, obedient, hardworking, good–natured, neat, and very appreciative of the good things others do for him.” The British texts give a more mixed impression. If, as this writer believes, Nigerian children are like children anywhere, the British texts may be more realistic as much as one would dearly love to have all children conforming to the Ibo textbook norm.

One question that comes to mind frequently on reading these papers is what effect the texts have on their young readers. Do the aspirations of children in Kenya and Tanzania significantly differ as a result of the education they receive from their very different types of textbooks? However, this question is not addressed; the authors admit that their work is just a starting point and the impact of texts is one of many areas that merit further research. It may be hoped that this volume will stimulate such research, by the team at the State University of New York and by other authorities.

Textbooks constitute the base of school knowledge in the Third World where there is a chronic shortage of qualified teachers and little in the way of additional educational resources. Many millions of children will have no other books except their school texts. Thus the impact of textbooks is likely to be much greater in developing countries than elsewhere. Librarians working in the Third World need to take into account the nature and role of textbooks, in order to provide effective service. Librarians, and all who have an interest in Third World education, will profit from reading this important volume.

About the Author

Carol Priestley is an international consultant based in London. Her assignments have taken her to many African and Asian nations. In recent years she has been active in the work of International Campus Book Link, which is described in the “Further Reading” section of this issue (see http://www.worlib.org/vol01no1/reading_v1n1.shtml).

© 1990 Carol Priestley.