Textbook Sets Through the Perspective of the Orientation of the Intended Chemistry Curriculum for Primary and Secondary Schools

Abstract

Textbooks have a central role in chemistry education and represent the intended chemistry curriculum at the national level. This paper focuses on analysing the intended chemistry curriculum as represented by the visual representations and the activities for students in the textbook sets in relation to the topics of the Slovenian National Chemistry Curriculum both at the primary and secondary school levels. The analysis involved all textbook sets approved by the national representatives for the 2021/2022 school year. The results revealed that in most of the curriculum topics in the analysed Slovenian chemistry textbook sets, the curriculum orientation structure of the discipline prevails and the everyday life orientation is present for both primary and secondary schools. To improve the relevance of the textbook sets for students, the currently rare presence of history of chemistry, environmental orientation, and technology and industry orientation and the lack of the use of socio-scientific orientation should be overcome. It would be valuable if further studies in textbook sets would also address the intended chemistry curriculum from a more holistic perspective.