The elaborate journey behind every page of the textbook

Every detail, every word is carefully considered, not only to convey knowledge, but also to demonstrate responsibility and aspiration to contribute to improving the quality of education .

Work of intelligence, discipline and devotion

Associate Professor, Dr. Cao Cu Giac - Deputy Head of the Faculty of Chemistry, Vinh University is the Chief Editor and Editor of the Natural Science textbooks (grades 6, 7, 8, 9) and Chemistry textbooks (grades 10, 11, 12) of the Creative Horizons book series published by the Vietnam Education Publishing House.

Sharing about the compilation of textbooks, Associate Professor Dr. Cao Cu Giac said that the biggest difficulty, which is also the key factor, is how to gather a group of experienced, dedicated and serious workers. The process of making textbooks not only requires solid expertise but also enthusiasm and high discipline.

Each figure, experiment, and drawing must be thoroughly tested in the laboratory and undergo many revisions until it is perfect. Only then can each textbook manuscript achieve the highest quality, fully meeting professional requirements and innovation expectations.

Mr. Dong Huy Gioi - Head of Technology for grades 7, 9, 11, 12, the book series Connecting knowledge with life said that the group of authors started signing a contract with the Publishing House in 2019, including 22 members. On average, it takes about a year and a half to complete a book, done in a "rolling" form.

According to Mr. Gioi, unlike Mathematics or Physics, Technology is highly practical, so the compilation process requires effort, dedication, research, and reference to many documents; therefore, it takes a lot of time, effort, and collective intelligence. During the implementation process, the group of authors agreed to include only basic and core knowledge in the book. Contents of regional or specific practical nature are only presented as illustrative examples, to avoid controversy and ensure the universality of the program.

The selection of textbooks is now a policy of the State. However, this is not an easy task, because each set of books has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on each subject. “Our greatest wish is that students have the best books, easy to learn, easy to teach and close to life.

However, textbooks are only a part of the teaching process; the decisive factor is still the teaching staff. If teachers are dedicated, consensual and creative, the educational goal will be highly effective; on the contrary, if that spirit is lacking, no matter how good the textbook is, it will be difficult to succeed,” Mr. Dong Huy Gioi expressed.

In fact, all current textbooks are assessed by the Ministry of Education and Training according to strict procedures, fully meeting strict criteria and standards. Therefore, according to Mr. Dong Huy Gioi, if we use a common set of books nationwide, we can completely inherit and "reuse" one of the current sets of books, because all sets ensure quality.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Duong Van Nhiem - Editor of the Technology textbooks for grades 7 and 11, Canh Dieu series, said that the completion process took nearly two years before the books could be released to teachers and students. Compiling textbooks, especially for the Technology subject, requires compliance with many standards, from language, logic to suitability to teaching requirements and other sensitive factors.

Every sentence, every word must be carefully considered. There are some written contents that, when reread, are not good enough, so they must be edited, or even rewritten from the beginning. This process is very elaborate, but clearly shows seriousness and responsibility in every detail.

According to Dr. Duong Van Nhiem, the book series has been approved by the State Appraisal Council and should be widely applied in educational institutions. Each book series has its own characteristics, but all aim at the common goal of helping students achieve the qualities and abilities required by the 2018 General Education Program.

He also wishes to inherit and continue using the current textbooks, because they have fully met the criteria and standards as prescribed. This is also the result of the serious and elaborate work of many individuals and groups, with a lot of time and dedication.

Challenges of time and human resources

Sharing about the time to compile a new set of textbooks for 12 grades, Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Manh Hung - Main Coordinator, General Education Program Development Board 2018 informed that it takes about 4 - 5 years. Compiling current textbooks takes 6 years (from 2018 to 2023, not including the preparation time of 1 - 2 years before, short or long depending on each set of books, plus a few months of training in early 2024).

In addition to compilation (including editing and illustration, especially primary school books need a lot of illustrations), there must also be time for trial teaching, appraisal (internal appraisal of the publisher and national appraisal), asking for comments from teachers and experts and teacher training.

Regarding the authors, according to Associate Professor Dr. Bui Manh Hung, there are quite a few talented teachers and scientists who have not participated in compiling textbooks. However, the number of people who meet the requirements for a textbook author is not much.

Writing textbooks requires not only in-depth knowledge of related scientific fields, but also experience, pedagogical skills, understanding of domestic and international curriculum and textbooks, good presentation skills, ability to work in groups and dialogue, etc.

Not to mention the need to have the spirit of dedication to a difficult and arduous task for many years. Therefore, mobilizing authors to compile a new set of textbooks covering all subjects for 12 grades is no small challenge.

“When compiling the three current textbooks, we mobilized almost all our forces for a major educational reform. We can solve the problem of authorship by mobilizing some of the people who participated in compiling the three current textbooks.

However, this can lead to conflicts of interest because when they are the authors of current textbooks and participate in writing new textbooks, they will more or less use the creative efforts of the old group of authors to contribute to the new group of authors. This can potentially cause many controversies and consequences in terms of intellectual property,” said Associate Professor Dr. Bui Manh Hung.

Also talking about the authors of the books, according to Associate Professor Dr. Do Ngoc Thong - Editor of the 2018 Literature Program, mobilizing a full team of authors of about 400 - 500 people to write a complete set of new books for all subjects in one school year is not simple. While most of the people who are knowledgeable about the program, general textbooks and have in-depth expertise in each subject have participated in compiling the three current textbooks.

In addition, to have a new set of compiled textbooks, it is necessary to determine a clear and unified pedagogical ideology, along with the book structure, lesson structure, system of questions, and exercises to guide students to learn differently from the existing textbooks. This is also a very difficult problem; it is impossible to take back and follow the existing textbooks, because of copyright issues...

In addition to the human factor, there are also the time and budget factors. Associate Professor Dr. Do Ngoc Thong said that if the compilation and implementation are organized and implemented simultaneously at all three levels of education as in the past, it will take at least 6-7 years to complete the entire curriculum from grade 1 to grade 12. Meanwhile, the requirements for the 2026-2027 school year must change in all 12 grades. The cost to build a new, complete set of books is also very large...

“Finally, there is the issue of teacher training. Implementing the new textbooks means having to train teachers to replace the textbooks for all 12 classes next year, which is very difficult and cannot be of good quality,” said Associate Professor Dr. Do Ngoc Thong.

“To compile the Natural Science textbooks (grades 6, 7, 8, 9) and Chemistry textbooks (grades 10, 11, 12) of the Creative Horizons series, we, with nearly 100 members, including authors, editors, artists, designers and publishing technicians, had to work tirelessly for nearly a decade,” Associate Professor, Dr. Cao Cu Giac shared.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/hanh-trinh-cong-phu-sau-moi-trang-sach-giao-khoa-post753537.html