Turyans’ka O. F. History Textbooks for Future Generations of Secondary School Students: Considerations for Authors

Turyans’ka О. F., Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Full Professor, Department of Ukrainian History, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University.

Abstract
The article discusses the main issues related to the process of school textbook creation, outlines possible solutions to the challenges, and determines the fundamental principles that should govern the process of composing a textbook.
On the basis of the comparative analysis of modern history textbooks, the author distinguishes two approaches to the composition of school textbooks (encyclopedic and functional) and describes their advantages and disadvantages. These approaches reflect their authors’ priorities with regard to the selection of the content of history studies, as well as the methodology of preparing the texts for such studies. The author emphasizes that an excessive amount of scientific facts, usually given in a form of summary, should be avoided, because it can discourage students from learning about the past, learning in general, and destroy students’ inherent interest in history. On the contrary, modern history textbook creators should attempt to stimulate students’ cognitive needs, describing historical importance, as well as moral and aesthetic meaning of the facts. A history textbook should not be seen as a medium of transmitting learning information of scientific nature, but must be turned into a didactic means, which exposes the ethic and aesthetic content of historical events. A textbook meeting this requirement can be critical to opening the world of spiritual and moral values to students.

Key words: textbook, means of educating and developing a students, the senses of historical material.

References

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