Introduction

Abstract

Textbooks matter. Their content, design, and educational aims and objectives have changed over time, as have the manner of their production, their role in the classroom, and the ways in which their users acquire the knowledge canonised in them. Today’s textbooks coexist or compete with other forms of educational media and are themselves undergoing a process of transformation in the wake of the digital revolution. These developments notwithstanding, research shows that textbooks remain the most important educational medium in schools worldwide, created in negotiation processes at the societal level and delivering the knowledge these societies deem relevant enough to pass on to the younger generation.