WHAT DO TEACHERS REALLY WANT FROM COURSEBOOKS?

This is a short information the writer tries to inform to the reader involved with the coursebooks. This writing is adopted from Hitomi Masuhara article.

From this brief article, we can know some potential benefits of studying teacher variables. Specifically to focus on how teacher’s needs and wants from coursebooks can be identified and catered for in the processes of material development.
There are  four parts which will be focused on this article, they are (1) whose need analysis? ; (2) teacher an endangered species; (3) empowerment of teachers (4) opportunities for change. In the part of  "Whose need analysis?". The “need” here, will defined in term of: (1)  ownership (whose needs are they?); (2) kinds   (what kinds of need identified?) (3) sources (what are the sources for the need?). For example: The kind of teachers’ needs are personal needs and professional needs. The source of personal needs are age, sex, cultural background, interest, educational background, and teachers’ language proficiency. The source of professional needs are preferred teaching styles, teacher training experiences, teaching experiences.  Besides teacher, the ownership whose need analysis are learners and administrators’ need.

These three needs are influence each other. For instance: when teachers are asked what their needs from a coursebooks, their responses may quite possibly influenced by: teachers’ perception of administrative needs. It is about the school is under-resourced and very strict syllabus is set which the teachers are expected to obey.

Let me give brief explanation about teacher’s need and teacher’s wants. Teacher’s need is about  a content inventory in developing and evaluating material, and information for the content, coverage, and format of teacher’s guide. Then, teachers’ want is about teacher’s motivation and commitment to teaching and its effect on learning and information as to how teachers react to and implement materials. 

Teachers an endangered species explains about course design that helping teacher to the local classroom needs. There are some model of course design. The mode that I would explain is model X: It starts from : need analysis à goals and objectivesà syllabus design à methodology/ materials à testing and evaluation. The steps I said before shows how the teaching contexts and the learner’s needs provide a framework for the objectives, then the decisions concerning the best method and materials should be made accordingly. 

In the part of empowerment of teachers deals with teachers’ need and wants could be reflected in the development and use of materials. Here, the steps of curriculum development: (1) curriculum planning, decision making role is policy makers, with the product is policy document; (2) specification  with ends means, need analysts methodologists are decision making role, and syllabus is the product; (3) programme implementation,  materials writer will procude teaching materials, teacher trainers will produce teacher-training programme; (4) classroom implementation , teacher will create teaching acts  while learners the  learning acts. Opportunities for change explains some stages in the reflecting teachers’ needs and wants. They are: (1) planning; (2) drafting; (3) evaluation; (4) piloting; (5) production; (6) post- production. Therefore, in brief, we can answer the question from Hitomi Masuhara "WHAT DO REALLY WANT FROM COURSEBOOKS?". Teacher wants a simple course design to make her successful learning in the condition she/ he does not have much time to do it. Teacher can use the model of course design that the writer try to explain in this article.

         

REFERENCE:

Tomilson, B. 1998. Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.