Investigating possibilities to develop textbooks to implement global education in basic education instruction

Abstract

This article focuses on investigating the possibilities of developing textbooks to help implementation of global education in Finnish basic education (first nine years of education). The argumentation is supported by textbook research conducted in the field. Based on research findings, the textbooks guide teaching more than the official national curriculum at the grass-root level in Finland. Moreover, national research conducted in the field reveal that despite the published guidelines and goals, global education teaching has remained modest and uncoordinated. At the same time, national researches have revealed that Finnish pupils’ negative attitudes towards minority groups and immigrants have increased and that regardless of their high level of citizenship knowledge and skills, pupils are not interested in participating in civic actions. Finnish textbooks evaluation studies, in turn, suggest that the above is mainly due to the pedagogical approach and the perspectives represented in the textbooks.
According to the findings of my recent research on global education referred in this article, current textbooks in use are not seen as helpful tools in implementing global education. At the basic education level, the respondents consider the main hindrances to be the lack of knowledge and skills in the field and the unavailability of textbooks that are used as main resources in teaching and planning in the country.
In conclusion, it is argued that textbooks have great potential to assist in the implementation of the global education programme and to act as real agents of change. As a summary, a list of criteria for textbook evaluation from a global education perspective is suggested.