The Role of Pupils as Prescribed in the New ‘Modern Greek Language’ Junior High School Textbooks: A Critical Overview

Abstract

THE SCHOOL textbook as a pedagogical text –especially in centralized educational systems where it has a dominant position– not only does it form the message but it also has a strong influence on its receivers. It suggests the way to be read and shapes the positions and roles in the classroom both for the teacher and the students. This paper aims to give the reader a critical review of the role that the new junior High School textbooks of Modern Greek Language attribute to the students. The theoretical context of the study consists of the learning theories of constructivism and B. Bernstein’s theory of recontextualization of scientific knowledge into school knowledge. The criteria upon which the role attributed to students was examined derived from these theories and from the textbooks themselves. These criteria are: first, the ways and means through which knowledge is constructed in the classroom and second, the expressions and linguistic terminology used throughout these textbooks. Through many examples of activities included in the books, we discuss the degree to which these books offer the student an active and responsible role in learning.