Designing a 21st Century Skills-Based Textbook framework for Araling Panlipunan

This study is an effort to design a framework integrating 21^st century skills in Araling Panlipunan textbooks. Development of this study’s framework is based on two theories: Activity Theory (Rezat, 2003) and Theory of Textbooks (Plut & Pesic, 2006). The use of these theories determined the dimensions that this study was based on: curricular demands, developmental demands, communicative demands, and pedagogical demands. Mixed method research was used as a methodology of this study. Findings suggested textbooks that aim to develop 21^st century skills should fulfill the textbook demands using a design framework that incorporated different dimensions that a textbook should have. However, various framework designs offered different levels of quantity and quality of the 21^st Century Skills, which can hinder the holistic development of the learners. Indicators from the 21^st Century Skills were analyzed and viewed through the lenses of the Conceptual Framework of this study. These process indicators resulted into 4 dimensions that corresponded into the operational definition of the framework, namely (1) Araling Panlipunan Curriculum, (2) 21^st Century Skills for Social Studies, (3) Structural Elements of the Textbooks,

and (4) Pedagogy. Gaps in the design of the textbook frameworks were analyzed, especially how skills were integrated in the different components of the textbooks, as some are too common to function or too specific to comprehend. In such cases, textbook designs usually rested on what was deemed important by the authors and developers. To cure these gaps, framework designs should be broad enough to cover all skills in one development point but not too limited that can restrict the cross-development of skills. Thus, a holistic approach was used rather than selectively picking the skills one at a time. Major recommendations focus on improving textbooks’ level of integrating 21^st century skills more explicitly and deliberately, shifting from content-based to skills-based activities, and to make the textbooks an “object of learning” by infusing innovative elements and components.