Teachers’ Perceptions toward using Geography Textbooks: A Study in Secondary Schools in Nepal

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to examine the teacher’s perception on use of geography textbooks at the secondary school level in the Kathmandu district of Bagmati Province, Nepal. Eight geography teachers who teach geography in community secondary schools were selected purposively. The semi-structured interview and class observation method were used to obtain on the teacher’s perceptions regarding the usages of secondary level geography textbooks. The classroom observation was used to see how teachers used geography textbooks in the classrooms by observation protocol. The interviews were recorded on audio recorder and transcribed it. The data obtained from interviews provided more profound answers and crossed check accuracy of the observational data. After collecting necessary data, analysis of the data acquired from semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were made through the interpretative method by combining different sources of data. The results reveal that geography teachers who had pro-textbook views believed that their teaching could be conducted effectively using the textbooks. By contrast, teachers who had anti-textbook views believe that geography textbook was inadequate and ineffective. Secondary level geography textbooks contain both potential and limitations. The teacher should supplement geography textbooks with other authentic teaching materials to give learners more learning.