Are textbooks (printed or digital) not used any more? How do students revise?

[ParentOfOne]

We are looking into secondary schools and are a bit shocked at what seems to be the trend of getting rid of textbooks in the UK.

This has been a bit of problem in primary school, when our child asks for help, we explain something, she says the teacher explained it differently, but doesn't know how... because there is no textbook!!

At primary school it's not been anything over which to lose sleep, but in secondary it might be different.

• Is this really a trend all over the country?
• Across both private and public (we're not considering private, just curious)?
• I don't care whether the material is printed or online, but are students expected to revise based on the notes they take in class? Taking notes for a detailed history class might be harder than for a maths class. But how about subjects like biology, which require all kinds of graphs and images?
• What are your thoughts?
• Have you bought textbooks? How do your children revise?
• Getting rid of textbooks might be a way to cut on costs, but I suppose there is plenty of free material online to explain fractions logarithms WW1 etc

I know many people who are university lecturers, and they all tend to think this trend is a catastrophe, because by the time they start university students are not used to the concept of studying a textbook, they expect that anything can and should be summarised into a few bullet points on a slide.

My DSis did an English degree in the 90s and claims she didn't finish reading any of the novels she studied.

@JaninaDuszejko

Some of the books - I assume out of copywrite texts - they were given a printed out paper copy of the book they could then annotate. They also also slow read them in class.

My DC also had texts as books if previously been mentioned which they were doing - as well as York guide or other none specific board guides, revision guides for that board - sometime audio books or film if appropriate as well.

With some years teacher this was nice extra - with others vital. DS has half course with no teacher at all and DD2 had a very disorganise poor time management new to teaching teacher who did miss teaching certain things. It meant they kept their grades static - though missed out on improving them - while many of their peers despite being in top English set did really badly.

For English texts, it varied. In y7-9 the school provided the books, but they weren't allowed to bring them home. For GCSE Eng Lit, we were asked for "voluntary contributions" to cover the cost of books they could bring home and scribble in the margin etc, or else we could buy our own if preferred. "Voluntary Contribution" is code for "please pay if you can afford to and school will cover the cost for those that can't".

None here. But at gcse level I bought all the CGP revision guides which apparently have everything in. A level we were told to buy 1-2 (££) books per course. State comp. I bought maths books for ks3 /4 too.

So basically those who can afford it have the upper leg when they can buy more books? Oh what a surprise.
I wonder if school libraries or local council libraries have those books. Some university libraries have textbooks which cannot be borrowed but only read on site, specifically to allow everyone to study on site.

I don't mind not having text books - we did back in the '80s, but there wasn't much choice then. I'm currently doing Welsh evening classes, and following the WJEC course book (available online or as a hard copy) has made it much easier to switch to a different provider, and to catch up on missed lessons. It doesn't mean we only do the book - IME, teachers will add extra materials especially if it's clear the class is struggling with a new grammar point or something.

Last year, I qualified as a CELTA teacher - it was clear what the syllabus was. We didn't have to use any particular resources, but some were recommended - video, voice, books, including text books, websites... it was similar about 3 years earlier, doing a management diploma. Syllabus and outline materials available online, with reading lists ("reading" including video and podcasts.)

We didn't get told the syllabus back in my schooldays - I suspect at least one of my A-levels would have been a grade higher if we had, as I could have better focussed my revision.

So I don't think text books are vital, as long as it's clear a) what to cover and b) where to find at least a basic outline with suggestions for further reading.

My daughter has just got a new history textbook , she showed it me as the front cover (it's a4) is just Hitlers face which is quite arresting given it's so big. She also has a primer for An Inspector Calls. Perhaps we are living in the 80's here! As others have said though, they have so many better resources now. I remember being at junior school in the late 70's (private) and our maths books weren't in decimalised currency as they'd not been replaced.

DD in year 9 and has never brought a textbook home. Only reading books.
All resources are online

Not sure if it will change when she starts GCSEs next year

I wonder if school libraries or local council libraries have those books.
I don't know how to tell you this but ... not all schools still have libraries.

Sorry, I was too brief.
Students have regular tests, so will need to review their notes and handouts, etc.
For GCSE's I would say make sure you keep up with coursework and regular testing etc. Most kids don't seriously revise until the exams are in sight. Then the revision books can be useful. I found DD wanted me to test her (on stuff I didn't know) but I could grasp it by reading the revision books/flashcards etc.
There's a wide range of ways to learn now so everyone can find a format that suits them.

I'm a high-school English teacher, and I have worked in the state and private sector. No text books. We use Google Slides which are then posted on Google Classroom for students to refer back to and revise. We don't make new ones Every. Single. Year., but we will often tweak and revise them, and change them more substantially every 3-4 years. For example at the moment, I'm currently working on a unit of work for Year 9s. I've scrapped about 5 of the lessons, expanded 2 existing ones, and created 2 brand new ones. If we had textbooks, we would feel obliged to stick with them for as long as possible due to the expense.

For GCSEs, students will again have access to all the slides, and also of course our planning will be based on the exam board's specification, which parents can download themselves also, along with past papers.

Yep - and I have ranted about that on here before and been told it is what is is and was always thus.

We tell their mates about the good free sites/resources we know of and have passed on now unneeded text books - as my kids all chose slightly different options.

However I feel their secondary is letting my kids down anyway - and we can't access tutors like some of their friends do - so our limited time and money resource have to go on supporting our kids best we can.

Secondary school library isn't well stocked and they made it so only Y11 and above can access in school hours and only Y10 and above after school

The college library - where mine go for A-levels - has the relevant texts - according to DS and several copies.

DD1 uni they have digital copies she can access anywhere and both her department and main library carry books in her subject area.

Council libraries do have some common set texts as just ordinary books or can order them in person or on-line - they may also have generic analysis one like York notes but haven't looked - I suspect they don't have board specific revision book though I could be wrong.

Moving to the UK from abroad - it's been crazy to look at home british kids are being taught. mine is only in primary but I genuinely have no idea what he is learning. They are following a maths scheme online - so we follow that. but i have no idea what they are doing in science or history. all we get is a topic - e.g. monarchy but nothing about what will actually be covered etc etc. It's a complete mess. I do wish they would at least use a single online resources/platform so parents could follow that. otherwise it's incomprehensible how kids/parents are meant to follow it.

We were told which novels to buy for GCSE, DNA, McBeth, Lord of The Flies, Jeckyll & Hyde etc. The school had just a few copies if anyone was stuck. They were punished if they didn't have their copy with them for a lesson.

I bought DD lots of revision guides from CGP, Exedel, AQA etc, but you need to know which GCSE board they are taking before you can buy the guides. The school should let you know at the appropriate time.

DD has just started college, and they have been told to have their phones out at all times, in order to take snapshots of the board.

My DS is taking A'levels maths, Phyics and DT. Text books are required, the school sent the order form home. About £120 for the three books.

I understand that textbooks may not always be indispensable.
At primary school, one of the issues we had was that a few times we couldn't explain something to our child because "the teacher did it differently" and, even looking online, searching library books etc, it was never quite fully clear to us which of the many ways to explain a concept was the one used by the teacher and therefore the one which would create the least confusion. Luckily it never became a big problem.

I'd like to think this will be less of an issue at secondary school, if the school will give clearer indications, and also to the extent an older child should be more mature and more likely to understand an explanation even if slightly different from that used by the teacher.

But I would still want the school to give some indication, and not say: we studied logarithms, find yourself one of the many books or websites which explain the topic.

Textbooks are really not necessary especially if you have excellent teachers. I appreciate this is not always the case - but in my experience, when it comes to revision - the expertise of the teacher is king (especially, if they have marked the exam paper for the subject they are teaching)- above and beyond any textbook whether it is a hard copy or online.

No, that's not fair, because schools will usually cover the cost for pupil premium and other disadvantaged students.

After GCSEs our school encouraged everyone to donate their study guides along with their uniform so they could be recycled according to need.

In Sixth form there's a bursary available for students on certain benefits.

That's not what happens - schools usually have an app that they use for each department, e.g. Dr Frost for maths, so it should always be clear where to go. (If they need an alternative explanation to help consolidate their understanding then they can find another source).

With maths, there will always be more than one way to do something, and the earlier they understand that the better. Embrace it, and show them how they can get to the same result in different ways.

I think you sound a little technophobic, but hope you will keep an open mind.

I would tend to disagree.

I think it's important that the teachers give clear indications on where the relevant material can be found. Whether this material is online or printed is irrelevant, whether the teachers wrote the material themselves (slides, handouts etc) or whether they point the students to other kinds of resources is less important, but there needs to be a way to study and revise that is not relying on a combination of memory + notes taken in class.

I do not agree with the idea of "this is the topic, if you want look it up in one of the many websites or books available" because the level of detail, the teaching method, the sub-topics covered etc can vary greatly, and this can be very confusing.

There is also another point, but I know that here opinions will differ and that not everyone will agree, that IMHO it's important to instil the concept that not everything can be summarised into a handful of bullet points on a powerpoint slide. This is something I see a lot at work, where younger hires have a bit of a shock when they learn that some regulatory and legal changes concerning the work are explained in an 80-page report, or that a book on a software they need to learn can be 300 pages. Many of them (not all) are not used to the concept of something to read / study which is more than a handful of pages and isn't mostly bullet points.

"I think you sound a little technophobic, but hope you will keep an open mind."
??? @drastikaction Why technophobic? Like I said, I am not ranting about a supposed superiority of printed books over online material.

I am complaining about the lack of clear indications of where to find material to double check and revise. Whether this material is printed or online is completely irrelevant.

"That's not what happens"
It did happen at our child's (primary) school, though. So please do not expect your experience to be universal. We explicitly asked the teachers and no clear indications were given, just generic reference to material online or at WhSmith, all quite different from each other.

"With maths, there will always be more than one way to do something, and the earlier they understand that the better. Embrace it, and show them how they can get to the same result in different ways."

Of course. But older children will be more mature and more receptive to this line of reasoning. If a younger child struggles to remember / understand a concept, and you explain it to them in a different way, chances are you will just be adding confusion on top of confusion. And why, what for?

I would seriously question what sort of degree your new hires are doing if they are not doing a lot of reading.

For my undergraduate degree the reading list each week would have about 40 papers on it each between 10-60 pages.

You could get away with not reading some of them but not all.

Of course you read papers online.

I guess if maths or similar then maybe less research papers and more methods and problem classes.

@ParentOfOne "If a younger child struggles to remember / understand a concept, and you explain it to them in a different way, chances are you will just be adding confusion on top of confusion. And why, what for?"

Completely disagree. Showing a younger child different ways to do the same thing embeds their understanding.

You're clearly not a teacher - the skill of the teacher when it comes to revision can't be underestimated here. You can have as many textbooks as you like but if you learn the wrong material or you don't under the assessment objectives of the exam you will get a poor mark or possibly even fail.

Regarding your second point - this is more to do with whether our exam/education system is teaching young people the skills they need for employment, which is clearly up for debate.