The impact of curriculum change on the market : the case study of South African Textbook Publishers and Retailers

Abstract

Textbooks in the school context have a crucial role to play in order to achieve educational objectives as well as in directing teaching approaches (Doll, 1996). Curriculum change creates a demand for new textbooks (Taylor & Richards, 2014). The market for publishing and retailing of textbooks has many unique features, including the demand and supply aspect which is influenced by public procurement, and the existence of profit-driven textbook publishers and retailers. The phenomenon of curriculum change represents another distinctive characteristic of the market, which acts as a disruptor to the economics with significant implications for roleplayers in the market. These effects may be positive or negative, as insufficient information exists on the impacts of this feature of the market, especially in the South African context. In this study, textbooks publishers and retailers are the focus as it is their business obligation to supply textbooks to the Department of Education. The primary purpose of the study is to investigate the perceptions of selected textbook publishers and retailers on the impact of curriculum change on the performance of their businesses. The study identified proper communication and lack of intensive training as gaps that need to be addressed to ensure that textbook publishers and retailers succeed well in their businesses despite curriculum change. An in-depth qualitative study was conducted using purposive sample of 30 key respondents, that is, ten respondents from textbook publishers, ten respondents from textbook retailers and another ten from the Department of Education. The study employed the hermeneutic approach to analyse the empirical qualitative data generated from the research study. The analysis of the study was focused on the challenges that textbook publishers and retailers face due to curriculum change as well as their strategic response to curriculum change. The study found that textbook publishers and retailers’ perceptions on the impact of curriculum change on their business is both negative and positive and that the industry appreciates curriculum change as a stimulus of economic activity despite the challenges experienced. Recommendations for textbook publishers and retailers to cope with curriculum change are given.