Publishers tussle with Gibb over textbooks

Schools reform minister Nick Gibb has told publishers that England has "once again" fallen behind in the production of world-class textbooks, saying that a critical policy paper issued by Tim Oates of the Cambridge Assessment Group "should send shock waves through the education system and publishers."

But publishers have fought their corner, querying some elements of Oates' paper, and telling the minister that English publishers are "recognised internationally as being excellent in some areas".

The exchange of views took place yesterday (20th November) at an education conference organised by the Publishers Association in partnership with the British Educational Suppliers Association in London, in which Gibb gave a keynote.

The minister spoke on the importance of textbooks, praising them as a time-saving tool for teachers, and as offering a better, structured experience for children. Digital products were no replacement for physical textbooks, but complemented them, while the role of e-textbooks remained an "open question", he said.

However Gibb maintained that textbooks in this country "do not match those of high-performing countries", citing the findings of Oates' paper "Why Textbooks Count", to which he had contributed a foreword. The paper warned against the neglect of textbooks in the English education system and compared English textbooks unfavourably with "extremely well-theorised, well-designed, and carefully implemented textbooks" helping higher levels of educational achievement in locations such as Shanghai and Singapore.

Gibb told publishers they had not met the challenge set for them a year ago by former education minister Liz Truss, saying textbooks were too narrowly exam-based and did not help pupils to the rounded education they needed, and warning that the government could only champion textbooks if publishers did a good job.

Colin Hughes, m.d. of Collins Learning and chair of the PA's Educational Publishers Council, told Gibb it was "hugely encouraging" that the minister supported the textbook, but asked him whether he was confident that his advisors had really looked at what publishers are providing for the new curriculum, saying some of the research was "possibly out of date".

Meanwhile Lis Tribe, m.d. of Hodder Education, asked for "more balance" in the arguments from Gibbs, pointing out the strength of English publishers' exports and saying: "Tim Oates knows maths [teaching] very well indeed. But there are a wider range of subjects for which we publishers are very successful - it would be good to talk about the other areas, such as history or geography, where we advise them [the countries being held up as examples to English publishers]. We are recognised internationally as being excellent in some areas and the things you say don't acknowledge that."

Andrea Carr, m.d. of Rising Stars, commented that despite making repeated approaches to policy makers she had had difficulty getting a response and having the open conversation needed to get the advice she wanted. Greg Watson, chief executive of GL Assessment, said: "Tim [Oates] has talked about market failure in his report but there is a disincentive in this system to invest a lot in new product because of the speed of curriculum change."

Gibb appeared to brush off some objections, although he promised to look into the lack of contact between policy advisors and publishers, and vowed there was "no intention of wanting to reform the curriculum all the time."

However he continued to urge improvement, telling both publishers and exam board representatives: "The income you get for the textbooks you supply to state schools is supplied by the taxpayer... Your role is wider than the market, a quasi-public duty role - and you are not fulfilling your role. We need to look around the world and see what these young people will be competing with [in the global marketplace]."

He added, to some laughter from the floor: "My message to you today is please sell what you think will drive up academic standards, not what you think will sell."