Textbooks are rarely seen in English classrooms today outside of the dreaded cover lesson. But in recent years a number of academics, government ministers and commentators have suggested the time has come for the textbook to make a comeback. Critics suggest textbook enthusiasts are guilty of nostalgia and sometimes naked self-interest. But does this toing-and-froing miss the real debate over what education should be for?
The speakers are Colin Hughs, managing director Collins Learning; Susanna Goldschmidt, head of publishing, Discovery Education; Tim Oates, group director of assessment research and development, Cambridge Assessment; David Perks, founder and principal, ELSS; José Picardo, assistant principal, Suburbiton High School. The chair is Harley Richardson, director of design and development at Discovery Education.
