Textbooks - An Outdated Tradition? : A Study of the Greatest and Most Common Problems with English Textbooks for Upper Secondary School in Sweden

This qualitative research study examines the greatest and/or most common problems with the use of textbooks as perceived by teachers in upper secondary school in Sweden. The study employs interviews to gather data and also looks further into the textbooks the interviewed teachers use to gain a greater understanding of the problems presented by the data. The result of the study shows that teacher experience various problems while using textbooks, e.g. insufficient number of some exercises, outdated content, insufficient cultural content and it is also a time-consuming process to adapt the textbook to the curriculum, learner group and learner situation. However, the study also shows that many, if not all, of the problems are not exclusive to the use of textbooks and as such are potential issues regardless of the type of teaching material that is used. Therefore, the problem seems to not be with textbooks themselves but rather a consequence of larger issues within the teaching profession such as time-restrictions, financial issues and problems with the margin of interpretation of the curricula. Further research is required to find a solution as it is clear that for the moment many teachers perceive the textbook partly as a problem. It is thus clear that something needs to change, either how textbooks are defined, the responsibilities of the teachers, and/or the curricula themselves