The weight of the world's learning
A look at two innovative approaches designed to address the widespread problem of heavy school bags. And a question: why are school textbooks getting bigger?
Parental concern about bag weight is an almost universal feature of education. Some examples from 2022 so far:
In Algeria, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to discuss reducing the weight of school books when he opened the Algiers International Book Fair.
In Jordan, education experts demanded that books be made smaller to save the spines of children in Grades 1 to 3.
In Kazakhstan, there are concerns that more than half of school children are being physically harmed by the weight of their burden.
In New Zealand, school bags are a contributing factor to children not getting enough physical exercise.
In Singapore, heavy school bags are causing congestion as parents choose to drive their children to school rather than strain under the weight.
Textbooks are the physical manifestation of what a government expects children to slog to school. Yes, they illustrate the scale and ambition of the curriculum. But they also prompt the question: “You expect my child to carry how much?”
Critical newspaper articles, open letters, petitions and protests are hardly a good look for an ambitious Minister looking for a long political career. Consequently, initiatives to reduce the weight of children’s school bags transpire to be fertile ground for innovation in educational publishing.
One book to rule them all
In 2020, India released its National Education Policy, formalising a raft of educational policies and increasing state funding for education. Buried in the detail was a call to action on school bags:
Concerted efforts, through suitable changes in curriculum and pedagogy, will be made by NCERTs, SCERTs, schools, and educators to significantly reduce the weight of school bags and textbooks.
National Education Policy 2020
Since the publication of the National Education Policy, Maharashtra has become a hot-bed of textbook innovation.
The Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research set out to resolve the issue of heavy school bags. Instead of producing separate textbooks for each core subject, the Bureau developed integrated Grade 1 textbooks for Marathi, English, Mathematics, and ‘Play, Do, Learn’. And, then they split the year’s learning into four themed books.
This approach is particularly interesting for the way it affects classroom teaching. English language, grammar, and syntax is taught “simultaneously with Marathi”. So, rather than a textbook that’s divided into separate subjects, the new books combine exposure to languages to further reduce weight.
Below is a sample from one book shared online by Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, the State Minister of Education.
The new approach has been piloted in 488 schools across the state, and will be rolled out state-wide for academic year 2022-23. Integrated textbooks for higher grades are now being developed.
In November 2021, the Parliament of India Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports visited the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research to learn about the initiative:
The Committee was also briefed about one major project undertaken for which another pilot project for primary education has been started this year wherein lessons on Marathi, English, Mathematics and ‘Play, Do, Learn’ for Class I students are integrated quarter wise, into one book […] The quarter-wise integration has been done on the basis of one theme being designated for every trimester. The four themes are ‘Me and My Family’, ‘Water’, ‘Animals’ and ‘Transport’. This integration of textbooks is aimed [to reduce] the burden of carrying the number of textbooks to school, thus reducing the weight of the school bag for the children and helps adhere to the Supreme Court guidelines in this regard.
India Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports report
The challenge to reduce the weight of backpacks is nationwide. The scale of the challenge is clear when you consider that the total weight of a child’s books in Grade 6 exceeds the recommended bag weight by 500g, without allowing for food, water, stationery, or other essentials. If Maharashtra is successful, we could be seeing other states follow suit.
Taking radical action
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, where heavy bags have been a longstanding issue, the government has announced a suite of targeted new book-related policies:
Lockers will be installed at double-session schools for students to store their books in the school, when they’re not needed at home. For single-session schools, students will be able to use their desk drawers.
The school timetable will be radically rethought, with only three or four subjects taught a day, and responsibility for timetabling devolved to individual schools.
Subjects can have no more than two books, and none of those books can be more than 80 pages.
692 textbooks have been converted to digital, so they can be accessed at home and fewer students need to carry books home for homework.
The effects of this policy are wide-reaching. Schools will need to rework their timetables, teachers will need to replan their lessons, and textbooks will need to be rethought.
Will it work? In 2018 the Ministry’s own research revealed that textbooks only accounted for 28% of the average school bag’s weight. The remainder was made up of stationery, food, uniform, and the weight of the bag itself.
The elephant in the room
So what about digital? If the problem is so large that bending the school day is necessary, why not alternatives to paper?
In response to the increased availability of digital books in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Anuar Ahmad, from the Centre of Community Education and Wellbeing at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia warned that the infrastructure is not yet reliable enough. “When more households enjoy stable Internet access over time, the use of e-textbooks will naturally increase.” For now, the focus should be on making sure every student can access the materials.
And in Kazakhstan, the warnings are more dire still:
For two years now, the Ministry of Education has taken initiatives to ensure that all textbooks used in schools are available in electronic form […] for free download in PDF format. […] This does not mean that you must use it, it is an additional option that you can resort to if necessary. Suppose the child forgot the textbook at home or he needs to prepare for homework. […]
However, this method does not work either. Doctors are categorically against such an innovation. According to them, computers, phones and tablets create an additional burden on children's eyesight. Experts say that every year the number of schoolchildren with vision problems is increasing. The situation worsened after distance learning.
Yeldos Nurlanov, Director of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for the Expertise of the Content of Education
Another pilot in India will see lockers installed at schools. While one of the anticipated benefits is a reduction in bag weight, another is that books will not get damaged being carried between home and school in the rainy season.
Replacing damaged books can be expensive; replacing damaged devices is more so.
But digital can be part of the solution. Perhaps there’s a blend of classroom storage, digital access for students who have connectivity and devices at home, and homework books that offers a cost-effective and equitable alternative to heavy backpacks.
I like big books and I cannot lie
Are textbooks getting bigger? Here’s an intriguing aside from a recent article about some new Japanese textbooks:
In order to encourage the shift from lecture-centered lessons to "independent, interactive and deep learning" (active learning) in which students actively learn, many textbooks use “exploratory learning” methods such as report writing and discussion. […] As a result, the number of pages has increased overall compared to current textbooks.
Why are textbooks that embed exploratory learning longer than those that don’t? Simply put, they contain more elements in order to cover the same content. Activities and questions are central to this pedagogy, and the textbooks provide more structured learning that brings them closer to being lesson plans.
[And, as night follows day, so the first article concerned about the impact on the weight of school bags has appeared.]
What’s behind the move towards this new approach? The OECD summarises the thinking in this 2018 report:
Despite the high performance of Japanese schools [in PISA, the international comparative tests run by the OECD], reforms are needed to adapt to the future. Children entering education in 2018 will be young adults in 2030, facing challenges that are difficult to predict at present. Schools need to prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created, technologies that have not yet been invented and problems that have not yet been anticipated.
With a curriculum revised around every 10 years, Japan has established a regular cycle to continously update it, building on evidence from teaching practices. In the new curricular reform, however, Japan has recognised the need to update teaching and learning to foster competencies for the 21st century. In addition to knowledge, this includes developing cross-curricular skills, such as problem-solving and creativity, and good learning habits. To do so, the new curriculum (to be implemented from 2020-2022) focuses on using active learning strategies to develop the competencies of students […].
The OECD’s PISA tests are sat by a sample of students aged 15 in participating countries every three years, and each time the performance league table is published to great fanfare. The same ambitious politician concerned about the news stories about heavy books is, of course, interested in high-profile league tables.
While the original purpose of the test might have been to provide external benchmarking to guide and inform policy making, improving performance in the league table is often seen as a policy goal in its of right.
In 2019, the OECD Learning Compass 2030 announced that countries that had signed up to the OECD’s vision of education for the 21st century would be moving to a new phase:
[…] the curriculum analysis will shift its focus from “curriculum redesign” to “curriculum implementation”. Participating countries have agreed to focus on:
curriculum change as part of a larger system of change management
aligning curriculum changes with changes in pedagogies and assessments
aligning curriculum changes with changes in initial teacher education and professional development (including school leaders).
So, as the OECD’s 38 member nations (and those who emulate them) move into this phase of curriculum implementation, are we going to see books getting larger?
Stories of heavy school bags aside, printing costs are rising dramatically. It’s not just the cost of paper – other consumables used in the printing process are becoming more expensive. At least in the short-term, Ministries are going to find themselves facing unexpected large bills. Not all can absorb these costs.
Might there be more innovations to come in the book-to-student ratio and requirements for durability of printed books?
I’m surprising even myself in reaching this conclusion, but maybe we should be talking more about school storage solutions.