Case No. 14

Why do we have to share our books?

This case was written by a student in Year 10, 1996, with quotes from teachers from a research project

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A year 10 student

Maths:

In maths we have the same textbook (one of the 'Signpost Mathematics') series all year round. We get it from book hire and I have to bring it to class every lesson. If I were to forget my mathematics textbook I would probably just be asked to sit next to someone who had one. If others forget theirs I have to share mine. Maybe if I did it three or four times in a row he might give me a bad comment.

 

English:

In English we received 'New Senior English' to use all year from bookhire. Its really old. We also received certain books on particular topics that you only have whilst you are doing that topic for example so far this year I have done the topics Short Stories and Poetry. For these two topics I received the books 'Appreciating Poetry' and 'A Sense Of Belonging'. These textbooks also come from bookhire. Later in the year when we do a novel we will receive the novel from the English Department book room. My English teacher is pretty strict, so if I forget my textbook it is almost always a bad comment. We get lots of photocopied sheets of paper, they are all over my floor.

 

Science:

In Science we use the same 'World of Science' textbook all year round, but this year for 2nd and 3rd terms we are doing different science electives and will probably be using mainly sheets for these. In Science we probably only use our textbook every 2nd lesson, but if you forget when you do need it you would probably get a bad comment.

 

Commerce:

In commerce we have only one textbook, half of it is missing and someone has cut or eaten most of the corner. 'Concepts in Commerce' that we keep all year. We hire it out from school book hire. We only use it about every second lesson because our teacher likes to give information orally. He wouldn't care if we forgot it, we'd just sit next to someone who brought theirs. Most of us don't bother to bring it.

 

Personal Development/Health: In this subject we only do classwork about one third of our lessons. In almost all of these lessons we use our bookhire textbook called 'Pathways 2'.

 

Geography:

In Geography we have a textbook that we use all year called 'Beyond Australia: A New Geography'. We get this book from bookhire. Sometimes when we are doing a specific topic such as skills we will use another book such as an atlas, we only get these books on a day to day basis and they are shared between two, why do we have to share these books, why can't I have one because if you can't take it home you can't read it or do the homework questions.

 

Science & Technology:

For this subject I have two textbooks, one from the science department called 'Polymers' which was printed in 1973, and one called 'The World Of Plastics' which we get from bookhire, they are both subject specific textbooks, they are so old but I can't read them.

Case Study

MATHEMATICS TEACHER:

Textbooks are a sort of security blanket for students.

ENGLISH TEACHER:

It is impossible to buy new titles. All our money is spent on topping up run down stocks.

ENGLISH TEACHER:

Two-thirds of the budget is spent on senior books although seniors comprise only about 20% of the school's population.

ENGLISH TEACHER:

Nearly funds allocated to the English Department go for the purchase of HSC texts.

ENGLISH TEACHER:

We are seriously considering asking the senior students to buy their own textbooks because our funds are totally inadequate.

ENGLISH TEACHER:

I would love to have a language text for regular use but to supply two Years with one would take my entire allocation. The money available does not keep up with the rising costs. We cannot afford any book costing over $15.

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HISTORY TEACHER:

Old textbooks cannot be discarded. They are needed because there is not enough money to get a variety of texts into the students' hands.

HISTORY TEACHER:

The quality of education is threatened because of the lack of textbooks in the school.

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SCIENCE TEACHER:

This school will never be able to issue a text to each pupil. The lack of texts puts a lot more pressure on teachers.

SCIENCE TEACHER:

I think that every child should be issued with a book.

SCIENCE TEACHER:

We make our choice of texts solely on financial grounds.

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SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHER:

A set of books would be issued to each student if finances were available.

SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHER:

We cannot afford one text for each pupil.

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