Remember what I said about the reading level? If we want to see the publishing industry grow, we need to do a bit more. Maybe a grassroots effort by writers to get out to the classrooms and talk. We need something!!!
Textbooks put limits on student reading - Times Online: "From The TimesJune 6, 2006
Textbooks put limits on student readingSCHOOL textbooks are no longer simple companions to learning. According to the Society of Authors, syllabus-specific texts are having a “devastating” effect on teaching.
The writers’ union says that close links between exam boards and the publishers result in “very reductive” textbooks.
“Students are not being encouraged to read more widely,” says Sue Palmer, an author of 250 educational books, in The Times Educational Supplement (June 2).
The Joint Council for Qualifications says that reading lists should include non-endorsed texts, but teachers inevitably reach for texts that focus on assessment preparation, TES writes. And bonds between exam boards and publishers are becoming increasingly close. Pearson, the world’s largest educational publisher, owns the Edexcel board, and another board, AQA, has an exclusive deal with the publisher Nelson Thornes.
Publishers defend exam-specific textbooks, though, saying it would be “commercially stupid” not to seek endorsements from exam boards.
Because schools stand or fall by exam results, teachers can hardly be blamed for choosing “crammer” texts, a TES leader says.
A politically independent exam board free from commercial ties could be an alternative. Unless the link between publishers and exam boards is broken, TES concludes, that looks the best option."
Sign me nearly, but not quite speechless. All right, the future is here. The only remaining question would be where to turn next as writers....perhaps to screenplays, as the last chance to get paid more than Burger Back wages would be to write something that is made into a movie. I've heard only 2% of options ever make it. Big, way big, like, I mean, really, backlog. Suggestions?
ReplyDeleteCheck the new issue of the Writer, which says publishers have a back supply of manuscripts covering several years already, and therefore are buying only-already bestselling authors. I can believe it.