A Textbook Analysis of NCERT and Siert Environmental Studies for Class Four Students

Abstract

Introduction: Textbooks are one of the vital repositories of knowledge from which the learners can gain a vast treasure during their journey of education. They are the most significant sources of information that promote creative thinking and imaginative power in the minds of children in their learning stage. As books are the prime part of the social milieu and reflect the realistic social scenario, they should be provided with a scaffold on par with the understanding level of the children.  This study is confined to an analysis of Environmental Science textbooks framed as per various syllabi such as NCERT and SIERT for class IV students in Rajasthan. The paper examines both the frameworks of books and gives some suggestions to keep the appropriate thematic content pertaining to the syllabus. A textbook analysis methodology is used for the study. An analysis framework has been made as per the NCERT syllabus and SIERT syllabus textbooks. A systematic analysis was done oppositely according to the content of the book. It analyses the content of the book and the required elements of the learners as per the syllabus.  The analysis of the environmental studies textbooks has found that they have been framed so that they can produce a sound impact on students learning. The framework of the textbooks allows the curriculum to its applicability to the future.  The paper concludes that the textbooks that follow both the NCERT and SIERT syllabi should encompass the four prime areas such as content, sequence, standard, and language, which are very important for the efficiency of the textbook and the content is free from gender stereotyping.