Towards a Reflective Textbook Evaluation Model

This paper investigates ways in which textbook evaluation can help in implementing a positive change in EFL teachers’ professional careers. It draws the attention of Moroccan high school English language practitioners to the viability of using textbook evaluation as a reflective practice to enhance teachers’ professional development. It argues that a systematic textbook evaluation allows teachers to develop professionally while reflecting on the content of the textbooks they are using. This process can be formative within the formal guided context of in-service teacher training programs where voluntary teachers regularly meet in teacher learning communities (TLCs)devoted to textbook evaluation. The objective of such collective reflective activity is to encourage teachers’ lifelong learning as they will learn from each other’s experiences and improve their teaching practices. Eventually, they will agree on effective reflective practices which promote teachers’ professional development. The findings recorded by TLCs could be used in improving the quality of future textbooks. A EFL JOURNAL Vol. 1 No. 3, 2016 www.efljournal.org e-ISSN: 2502-6054, p-ISSN: 2527-5089 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/eflj.v1i3.21 Towards a Reflective Textbook Evaluation Model EFL JOURNAL, Volume 1 (3), 2016 220 survey was designed to explore the attitudes of Moroccan high school English language teachers towards the suggested model of textbook evaluation and its ability to promote teachers’ professional development. The findings demonstrated that the teachers were in favor of the suggested textbook evaluation model. Key-words: textbook evaluation, professional development, reflective teaching, TLC


INTRODUCTION
Undeniably, textbook evaluation is an integral practice in English language teachers' daily practice.Teachers review their textbooks daily to decide on which activities to teach and how to teach them.This process can be informed by theory or driven by pure intuitions that teachers erroneously deem unquestionable.Observation [and informal discussion with colleagues confirm that the latter form of textbook evaluation is the most predominant practice among Moroccan English language teachers, although the whole process brings little profit to their professional growth.It is high time teachers benefited from textbook evaluation as a practice that has the potential of reflectively gearing their professional development.
The present work responds to an expectedly inevitable introduction of new English language teaching textbooks into Moroccan public high schools.It is based on the assumption that adopting new textbooks will generate a state of confusion regarding the extent to which the new textbooks meet the requirements and standards dictated by students' needs and interests and curriculum objectives.The next generation of textbooks will certainly present new content using probably a new approach and a new methodology.More importantly, they will present new challenges to the teachers who will certainly face a number of difficulties related to the various components and areas of these textbooks at least in the very first years of textbooks' introduction to schools.Numerous problems will continue to reveal themselves throughout the lifespan of the expected textbooks if they are not identified and solved at the very beginning.The only way in which these potential problems could be overcome is by encouraging teachers to evaluate the content of the textbooks right after these materials are administered in the teaching-learning program.
This paper aims to suggest ways in which to encourage Moroccan high school English language teachers to engage in textbook evaluation in ways that promote their professional development.It argues that reflective textbook evaluation can improve the quality of learning outcomes and foster professional development of high school teachers of English if it is performed within the formal context of an in-service training program where teachers work collaboratively to promote learning.The current endeavor springs from a seemingly paradoxical state where textbooks are the most widely used teaching materials in Moroccan ELT classes while in fact textbook evaluation is given insufficient space in both pre-service and in-service teacher training programs.Taking into consideration the central role textbooks still and will continue to play in the teaching-learning process in high schools and excluding any possibility of them being dethroned in the near future, this paper suggests a systematic textbook evaluation in a professional and collaborative fashion.Its purpose is to design a textbook evaluation model capable of promoting teachers' professional development while improving the quality of textbooks as primary teaching-learning materials.
The argument of the present paper is built on the premise that all teachers are concerned with textbook evaluation since textbooks are the main teaching materials used in the Moroccan EFL classrooms and since there are no perfect textbooks.To a great extent, textbooks remain subject of numerous limitations related to content, approach and methodology as well as the socio-cultural, linguistic and ideological bias.Although it is unfair to accuse textbooks of inherently encompassing all of these defects at a time, it is to maintain that a textbook may not be free from at least one of them no matter how sound it may superficially appear to be.These defects can only be identified and overcome if an in-depth, reflective approach to textbook evaluation is adopted instead of the frequently used rapid, passive and impressionistic evaluation frameworks (Cunningsworth, 1995;McDonough & Shaw, 2003).
The present study investigates three main research questions: 1. How can textbook evaluation be used as a reflective practice to boost English language teachers' professional development?2. What textbook evaluation model best works for helping teachers develop professionally?3. To what extent do Moroccan English language teachers believe that the suggested textbook evaluation model has the potential to enable them develop professionally?
This paper is divided into six sections.The first section is an introduction that sets the background, purpose, rationale and research questions of the study.The following section reviews the literature that establishes a relationship between textbook evaluation and teachers' professional development.The third section discusses reasons why teachers move beyond passive textbook evaluation and adopt a reflective model.The fourth section presents the characteristics of the suggested reflective textbook evaluation model.Section five provides insights into how the model is going to be applied, while section six investigates the attitudes of fifty three Moroccan English language teachers towards the model and their interest, willingness and readiness to participate in the suggested textbook evaluation model.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The relationship between textbook evaluation and the quality of teaching-learning materials is hardly a new discovery.Nonetheless, it is an important matter that educationalists should highly consider.In fact, textbook evaluation is of crucial importance as an integral part of the practices of educational practitioners because of the central role coursebooks occupy in the teaching-learning process.Numerous have been the researchers who actually attribute the value of textbook evaluation to the indispensability of coursebooks as core elements in the educational act.Sheldon (1988) points out that the textbook remains an essential element in every classroom activity since it represents the visible heart of any ELT program.Similarly, Garinger (2002) contends that a textbook is at the heart of every classroom because it can serve different purposes: it can be used as a core resource, as a source of supplemental material, as an inspiration for classroom activities and even as the curriculum itself.However, Sheldon (1988) and Garinger (2002) consider that textbooks oftentimes constitute a problem that may become an educational failure in some extreme situations which insistently necessitates the definition and application of systematic criteria for assessing textbooks.
In other words, they argue for a systematic textbook evaluation that bases itself on concrete predetermined criteria designed especially for the purpose of identifying and solving problems that textbooks may contain.
Cunningsworth (1995) sees textbooks as resources for materials, activities and stimulations of ideal classroom practices that may be of much importance in supporting both teachers and students.Accordingly the amount of reliance placed on the textbook by the teachers and the extent to which they depend on the book is indicative of the perceived place of the textbook in the whole teaching-learning process.Although textbooks in Cunningsworth's view are vital mediators between the learners and the target language, teachers must always question what the textbooks claim.Thus, he advocates using textbooks reflectively through constantly questioning the validity, appropriateness and relevance of their content to the socio-cultural, economic and political reality and expectations of the learners.
Hutchinson and Torres (1994) consider textbooks as 'universal' elements that inevitably define any teaching and learning classroom.Apparently, the researchers observe, the textbook is the defining emblem of any teaching-learning process.Yet, lying at the heart of unease, textbooks most often present concerns about the discordance between their format and the developments in ideas about teaching and learning that have emerged of the applied linguistic debate.Identifying instances of this discordance and overcoming them necessitates careful evaluation if textbooks are to be effective agents of change.
Seemingly, much of the justification for the practice of textbook evaluation is associated with the importance textbooks have in the teaching/ learning process.Nevertheless, it is to maintain that textbooks gain more value through textbook evaluation as the usefulness, appropriateness and effectiveness of a textbook can only be accredited through the practice of a systematic evaluation.It remains then that textbooks and textbook evaluation are intertwined into a reciprocal relationship of interdependence where the value of one is only determined by the value of the other.In short, for textbooks to achieve the desired learning outcomes effectively, their content, approach and methodology must be effectively evaluated.
Textbook evaluation is also valuable for the benefits it bestows on teachers' professional development.It requires teachers to question their own practices through encouraging them to adopt a reflective attitude towards their textbooks.It also invites them to be innovative since they will be constantly searching for alternative activities that would supplement or replace the ones they find ineffective in their textbooks.Cunningsworth (1995), Ellis (1997) and Litz (2002) agree that the practice of textbook evaluation requires teachers to move beyond impressionistic assessments because it helps them to acquire useful, accurate, systematic, and contextual insights into the overall nature of the textbook's content.In fact, reflective textbook evaluation can improve the quality of learning materials and foster professional development through encouraging teachers to continuously improve their use of textbooks in accordance with what they discover during the process of textbook evaluation.In addition, textbook evaluation promotes lifelong learning since teachers will always engage in evaluating textbooks as long as these books are used as teaching-learning instruments.
The textbook is undeniably an essential material in the teaching learning process in the Moroccan English language teaching classroom.Despite the development of new information communication technologies, teachers still feel the growing need for textbooks because they present, organize and illustrate the curriculum.However, the acclaimed prestigious status textbooks occupy in the teaching-learning process remains unjustified as textbooks themselves are not perfect.They may appear sound and coherent on the surface but they often lack many of the criteria that could make them perfectly suitable for teaching right.Professional systematic scrutiny of their content would reveal deficiencies in the most appreciated textbook.Textbooks remain, like any other human product, subject to bias, inappropriateness, unauthenticity and / or incorrectness that could impair not only what and how students learn but also their perceptions of the world around them.These potential defects that are inherently attributed to textbooks can only be identified and overcome by evaluating their content.
Textbook evaluation is therefore a central practice that is essential to the success of the teaching learning process.

NECESSITY OF CHANGE: TOWARDS ACTIVE TEXTBOOK EVALUATION
Improving the quality of Moroccan ELT textbooks necessitates a change in the way textbook evaluation is generally conducted.One of the everyday tasks of Moroccan high school English language teachers is to skim their textbooks to form a general idea about what to teach and how to teach it.This task has been such a requirement of the teaching profession that it has become a mechanical routine devoid from its meaningfulness.As teachers grow experienced, they develop a set of intuitive strategies that enable them to decide on the quality of the activities included in the textbooks even superficially.According to Scales (2008), this decision-making process has become such an 'unconscious competence' that these teachers hardly question the theoretical principles that once governed their use of such strategies.Thus, a discrepancy arises between the teacher's actual practices and their own beliefs as they take it for granted that their intuitive practices are congruent with the theories they once believed in (Williams & Burden, 1997).Accordingly, teachers are suspect of getting used to an ineffective approach to textbook evaluation that relies more on intuition than on factual knowledge.This method of textbook evaluation is deemed as passive since teachers do not have clear specific objectives to guide the evaluation process which is in itself discontinuous.Also, the process of evaluation is so teacher-centered that it does not take into consideration to evaluate whether the intended activities suit the needs and interests of the learner or whether they improve the quality of learning outcomes.What is more is that none of the findings of this evaluation process is actually recorded for further use; in fact, the whole process takes place in the mind of the teacher and everything all their findings are doomed to oblivion once the lesson ends.
A radical shift from passive to active textbook evaluation is required.First, textbook evaluation needs to be conducted systematically within an environment which entices teachers to reflect collaboratively upon the textbooks they are using.This reflective, collaborative effort should be directed toward enhancing the quality of the teacher's instruction and the learners' learning outcomes.Second, the whole process of evaluation should be driven by that body of theory related to methods and approaches of both textbook evaluation and English language teaching (Argyris & Schön, 1978).Equally important, the whole process of evaluation should be recorded for future use.Seemingly, an active textbook evaluation is capable of promoting teachers' professional development in that it allows teachers to discuss problems, suggest solutions, exchange experiences and learn from each other's successes and failures, which will undoubtedly bring about some positive change to their teaching practices.
Obviously, conducting an active textbook evaluation does not call for special skills.It is within the reach of every teacher provided that they have a basic knowledge of methods and approaches of textbook evaluation.Also, they should be able to relate the theory of language teaching and learning to practices of textbook evaluation to guarantee sound theoretical foundations of their practices.In addition, the participants should be willing to work collaboratively with other members of their learning community and ready to share their experiences with them and learn from them.Moreover, they should be ready to change their old ineffective practices with new ones that they deem more effective based on a regular collection of evidence that support the effectiveness of their teaching practices.Overall, the success of one's participation is measured not only by the amount of professional growth they have accumulated, but also by the impact of their feedback on other members of the learning community (Bubb, 2005).

A REFLECTIVE TEXTBOOK EVALUATION MODEL
Admittedly, a reflective textbook evaluation model links theory to action so as to improve both teachers' practices and students' learning outcomes.The model of textbook evaluation that is suggested in this paper relies heavily on the principles of reflective teaching advocated by Schön (1983).According to the latter, the process of reflection in professional contexts should actually start with 'reflection in action' where the reflective practitioner monitors the activity being performed while it is taking place.At this stage, teachers should be able to think on their feet while they are teaching and collect evidence of good and bad learning experiences.When the teaching activity is complete teachers should find time where to reflect on the recent activity.At this stage of 'reflection on action', Schön suggests that reflective practitioners, in our case teachers, should go back to the recorded data or collected evidence, identify successful and unsuccessful teaching practices, look for reasons behind the failure of some experiences and search for solutions in the body of theory related to the subject matter.'Reflection on action' allows teachers to think about possible practices that could have made their past experiences more successful and decide on how to incorporate these strategies in their future teaching experiences.The futuristic projection of present and past findings is best exemplified in the last stage of this model which is that of 'reflection for action'.At this last stage, teachers who work as reflective practitioners use the findings of the previous two stages to plan future lessons, anticipate possible problems that may face them and preconceive preventive strategies of how to avoid or solve them.This model will to a great extent improve the outcomes of textbook evaluation.To start with, teachers will be able to use textbook evaluation to identify those textbook problems that truly impair students' learning.In addition, they will look for solutions and design alternative activities relying on theory related to textbooks evaluation and English language teaching.Furthermore, they will rely on collecting concrete evidence that proves the success or failure of a given textbook activity or evaluation technique.Also, there will always be need for using the new findings in planning future lessons and deciding how to overcome any unexpected problem that may otherwise lower the quality of learning outcomes.Of equal importance is the idea that this model adopts an iterative, circular process in which reflection never stops (Gun, 2015).

MODEL APPLICATION
The suggested model is better suited for a national in-service teacher training program.It may as well work for local series of pedagogical meetings, but its impact in this case will be limited to a narrow sample of local teachers and it will not reach the intended audience of teachers nationwide.The model, however, will not be as fruitful if it is applied in some professional contexts such as workshops, conferences, study days or seminars.These frameworks are usually single, isolated events whose life-span does not offer enough room for interaction and exchange of formative feedback among all participants.
By contrast, an in-service teacher training program offers the opportunity of creating a number of teacher learning communities (TLCs).TLCs, according to William (2007), allow supervisors to form small groups of eight to ten teachers who use the same textbook in their classrooms and schedule a yearly series of regular meetings.It is preferable that TLCs start with volunteering teachers who are willing to devote at least 75 minutes each month to evaluate the textbooks they are using.Teachers within each learning community set short-term objectives for each session specifying what areas of textbooks they will be evaluating and long-term objectives determining the expected goals of the whole program.At the end of each meeting, each teacher should have an action plan delimiting what they intend to do to get prepared for the next meeting.Moreover, TLCs provide the opportunity of inviting experts in the field of textbooks evaluation and ELT to present new textbook evaluation practices that can be used to enhance better learning outcomes.More significantly, TLCs are appropriate platforms for collaborative learning through exchange of formative feedback and borrowing of successful practices (William, 2007).
For organizational matters members of each TLC rotate leadership.They decide on the leader-facilitator for each meeting.The role of the leader is mainly to monitor discussions and ensure that everyone get an equal share of time to voice their thoughts.Equally important is the role of the TLC compiler whose task is to record the findings, suggestions and the pending unsolved problems.The TLC spokesperson is the one who links the TLC with other TLCs or with any other external authorities.To guarantee an equal share of responsibility, members of the TLC switch these roles on a regular basis.
Within each TLC, participants are invited to reflect upon the textbook evaluation area which is intended for that meeting.They should scan textbooks to identify problems related to that particular area and determine the ways in which these problems hinder learning.Then they are all invited to browse the relevant literature to find possible solutions that can help them overcome the identified problems.The next step consists in testing the extent to which these new solutions are effective in improving the quality of the students' learning outcomes.To make a sound evaluation of the success of a given practice, members of the same TLC are invited to pair up and schedule exchanges of classroom observation sessions.At the next TLC meeting, members of the TLC share their findings and provide feedback for each other's findings in the form of think-aloud protocol.
At the end of the program, TLCs share their findings on local, regional and national levels.Locally, spokespersons of the TLCs within the same delegation share their findings and compile a file of local findings which are presented to the spokespersons of each delegation at a regional level.That is to say, a second meeting should be organized at the level of the regional academy where spokespersons of the different delegations meet and share their findings and compile a set of suggestions, alternative practices, techniques and materials that could be used to overcome the identified problems in the textbooks.These finding should then be generalized to reach teachers all over the country through organizing, local, regional and national workshops, trainings, conferences, study days.Also, an official document in the form of national guidelines should be devised to help teachers evaluate and use textbooks effectively.In addition, useful materials should be compiled in CDs, DVDs or published in websites and booklets which can help both teachers and students improve their teaching and learning performances.As for those problems that could not be effectively solved by TLCs, they should be suggested to researchers who are interested in textbook evaluation for further investigation.More importantly, a set of recommendations should be made to inform textbook designers about problems to be avoided in future material design.

Method
A survey questionnaire is designed to investigate the extent to which Moroccan public high school English language teachers believe that the suggested textbook evaluation model has the potential to help them develop professionally.The questionnaire is divided into two main sections.The first part is devoted to personal information of the informants (gender, age and teaching experience).The second part consists of a series of five close-ended questions using five-level likert scale format.The first question relates to the extent to which teachers are interested in participating in the textbook evaluation program and the second question is concerned with teachers' willingness to work collaboratively and share their experiences with other teachers in the same TLC.The third question interrogates teachers' openness to experiment with the new practices that are suggested by other members of the TLC and provide feedback about the effectiveness of such practices in improving the quality of the textbooks.The fourth question focuses on teachers' attitudes towards the model as they are asked about the extent to which they think the model is effective in gearing their professional development.The last question is about the extent to which these teachers think that the suggested program will improve the quality of future Moroccan ELT textbooks.Each one of these questions is followed by an open-ended sub-question 'why' requesting the informants to justify their choices.

Participants
Fifty three Moroccan high school English language teachers completed the online questionnaire that was emailed to them with an impressive response that reached 100%.Twenty of the participants were female teachers and thirty three were males.Their age varied from twenty five to forty five and the majority, forty eight teachers, had more than five years of teaching experience.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The findings of the present study reveal that teachers adopt positive attitudes towards using textbook evaluation as a means of improving the quality of textbooks and gearing their professional development.1 shows that teachers are highly interested in taking part in the suggested inservice textbook evaluation model.In fact, more than 94% of the participants are interested in the suggested program because it offers them an opportunity to reflect upon the content of the textbooks they are using and identifying their strengths and weaknesses.It also allows them to undertake collaborative work, interact and exchange experiences with other teachers.Three teachers remained undecided because they think that such a program will be too demanding in terms of the amount of the theory of textbook evaluation methods and approaches they will be required to read.Table 1 shows no difference of interest between female and male teachers as both groups are equally interested in the program although male participants answer 'highly interested' more frequently than females, 60.6% vs. 33.3%,respectively.The results in Table 2 indicate teachers' readiness to work collaboratively with other members of the teacher learning community.Statistically, more than 98% of the participants admit their readiness to take part in the program and work collaboratively with other teachers from the same learning community with whom they share their teaching experiences.Only one female teacher declares that she feels more comfortable working individually and that she will not be ready to engage in collaborative exchanges of successes and failures with other teachers.Again, no important discrepancy appears between female and male teachers' feelings of readiness to participate in collaborative activities with other members of the TLC.Table 3 presents information concerning teachers' openness to test new practices suggested by other member of the teacher learning community and derived from the practice of textbook evaluation.94% of the participants say that they are open to try the new practices which other teachers found effective.These teachers believe that such practices will certainly help them improve the quality of their teaching-learning experiences if they are adapted to their own particular teaching context.Others, a minority however (less than 6%), feel that they are not open to apply practices suggested by other teachers since there is no guarantee that these practices will work effectively in their own teaching context.Nevertheless, the purpose of the program is to examine the extent to which the suggested practices can be generalized to all teaching contexts.Table 5 shows the extent to which participants agree that the suggested model of textbook evaluation is capable of improving the quality of Moroccan ELT textbooks.Actually, more than 92% of the participants believe in the suggested program's ability to improve the quality of future ELT textbooks.They explained that the identified weaknesses, the suggested alternative activities and the recommendations that originated from the collective endeavor of various TLC over the country will certainly provide textbook designers with a data base of defects to avoid and effective practices to incorporate; which can only enhance the quality of textbooks.However, four teachers including one female teacher are undecided and explain that the suggested model can yield better results only if the textbook designers take part in the in-service training program as they are the ones who have direct impact on the quality of the textbooks.
In summary, the practice of textbook evaluation can contribute to improving teachers' professional development if is designed in a longitudinal in-service teacher training program that involves volunteering teachers who are willing to meet regularly and work collaboratively with other colleagues in teacher learning communities.It is essential that teachers participating in the program are willing to share their successes and failures, test new practices and report their findings to other member of their TLC.The most suitable textbook evaluation model that will help teachers to develop professionally is on that is systematic, longitudinal, reflective and collaborative.It is also important that the program records, publishes and encourages teachers, textbook designers and educational policy makers to implement the recommendations and implications of the program so as to improve the quality of current and future textbooks.
The findings of the survey reported above reveal that Moroccan high school English language teachers are in favor of adopting the suggested textbook evaluation model.They have demonstrated that they are willing to participate in an in-service teacher training program and engage actively in TLCs in which they work collaboratively with other teachers.They also believe that the suggested reflective textbook evaluation model has the potential of not only gearing their professional development but also producing informed insights that will improve the quality of future ELT textbooks.The male teachers' motivation for the program is only rivaled by the female teachers' desire to use the program as a means of developing professionally.

CONCLUSION
In the end, it is believed that the suggested model of textbook evaluation has the potential of enhancing the professional development of Moroccan high school English language teachers for a number of reasons.First, it is learner-centered in that it promotes an active, self-directed lifelong learning initiative that builds on the prior knowledge and socio-cultural background of the teachers.Second, it is knowledgecentered as it supports planning and strategic thinking which develops a good understanding and an effective transfer of new knowledge.Third, it is assessmentcentered since it provides opportunity for an exchange of feedback that promotes self and peer formative, summative and performance-based assessment for learning.Fourth, it is community-centered because it promotes collaborative learning and allows an exchange of successful practices among English language teachers all over the regions of Morocco.According to the survey which included 53 high school English language teachers, more than 90% of the participants hold positive attitudes towards the suggested model of textbook evaluation and believed in its ability to promote their professional development as well as improve the quality of future English language teaching textbooks.The fact that teachers' attitudes towards the model were highly positives is an indication stronger enough to encourage the implementation of the suggested textbook evaluation model.Finally, it is necessary to stress the importance of post-model-implementation research to identify the extent to which the model truly impacted teachers' professional development and Moroccan English language teaching textbooks' quality.

Table 4 . The suggested model promotes teachers' professional development Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree TOTAL
Table4summarizes teachers' attitudes towards the extent to which they believe that the suggested model of text book evaluation has the potential of gearing teachers' professional development.In this respect, more than 94% of the teachers participating in the survey agree with the idea that active, systematic and collaborative textbook evaluation as described in the present paper has the potential of promoting teachers' professional development in case the teachers are voluntarily determined and motivated for, but not forced to attend, the in-service teacher training program.Three male teachers (less than 6%) are undecided as to the potential the suggested model of textbook evaluation-based in-service teacher training program has to help teachers develop professionally.These teachers believe that only teachers' motivation, determination and commitment can decide whether the program has the potential to boost their professional development.It has previously been noted that the participants in this program are volunteers whose commitment, devotion and motivation for improving the quality of English language teaching textbooks is welcomed; teachers who are forced to participate will certainly lack the necessary motivation to be collaborative, productive and effective.