Abstract:
This study explored how Technology teachers in medium- and well-resourced schools use
commercially prepared textbooks in their classrooms. A qualitative-interpretive design was
used with a purposively selected sample of four schools from a city in the Gauteng
province, South Africa. Data were analysed according to the conceptual framework of
didactical transposition, focusing on textbook content, activities, context and teaching
strategies. It was found that teachers in well-resourced schools adapt textbooks by adding
content, thus expecting a higher standard from textbook content, and preferring learners to
work individually, while teachers in medium-resourced schools follow textbooks without
adapting them, therefore accepting the standard set by the textbooks. It is recommended
that teachers in both contexts be assisted by specialists to interpret the curriculum so as to
be sure how they are expected to use textbooks to improve their classroom practices.
