Papoulia Tzelepi, P.
Description:
The aim of this article is to describe and explain changes in the Greek textbooks for language arts teaching in view of epistemological and political developments. The textbooks of the 1980s, still in use and still called ‘new books’ are considered a pivotal point in the description of the situation before their introduction, as well as in the experience of their use for the last twenty years. In view of the latter and under the influence of post-modernist epistemology and Greece’s membership of the European Union, needed changes should encompass a number of factors. These include textbooks promoting critical thinking, communication and cooperation skills, tolerance and acceptance of differences as well as a high level of oral and written language command. The new curriculum and the concomitant textbooks, being in the preparation phase, lead in this direction.