The integration of national education system into the European educational space determines the modernization of its content as a model of society's requirements for children and youth, which should take place on a competency, personality-oriented, activity basis. The main expression of the education content is the textbook, so the creation of textbooks of new generation - the primary task of national schooling. The theory of the school textbook as a conceptual basis of the textbook is formed at the junction of didactics, psychology and bibliography. However, for the development of this field of knowledge, foreign experience is interesting, in particular, UNESCO experience in the field of school textbooks creation.
Object of research: UNESCO activity in the field of school education.
Subject of research: theory and practice of UNESCO activity in the field of school textbooks creation.
The purpose of the study: to reveal the theoretical foundations and practical approaches to the problems of textbook creation in the activity of UNESCO for the further implementation of positive experience ideas into national schooling system.
The scientific novelty of the obtained results lies in the fact that:
for the first time a comprehensive analysis of UNESCO organizational and pedagogical activity in the field of school textbooks creation is made, in particular: the educational, developmental and upbringing potential of school textbooks is revealed; the approaches of UNESCO scientists to the development of electronic textbooks are characterized (essence, functions, types, criteria for quality assessment, advantages and disadvantages of usage); strategies for analysis and evaluation of school textbooks in UNESCO materials are defined: approaches to analysis (tradition of consent, critical tradition), types of textbook research (linguistic, discursive), textbook analysis standards (type of textbook, level of subject knowledge, curriculum features, methods of usage) , methods of analysis (quantitative and qualitative), the main stages of textbook evaluation (appointment of a small group of evaluation specialists for detailed acquaintance with the manuscript, analysis of the manuscript by each member of the commission, comparison of results), requirements for teachers to examine the textbook;
UNESCO's work on the creation, publication and distribution of school textbooks is revealed, experience of foreign countries is systematized and the prospects for usage of positive ideas in Ukraine are outlined;
the essential characteristics of the school textbook have been further developed: the provisions on its functions and requirements for this type of educational literature; content of education as a reflection of the concept of education for sustainable development and regulations that implement this content; the competence approach in education.
The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that its materials significantly deepen the content of the discipline "Textbook for primary school: didactic and methodological aspect" for the specialty 013 "Primary education"; the source base of the dissertation can be useful for researchers in various fields of pedagogical knowledge - comparative pedagogy, theory and history of pedagogy, etc. Based on the analysis of UNESCO organizational and pedagogical activitн in the field of school textbooks, recommendations for the implementation of positive experience in school education in Ukraine have been developed, which can be used to create new and improve the quality of existing educational publications.
