Illustrations and Their Practical Relatability in Primary Textbooks: A Literature Review

Abstract

This paper focuses on the illustrations in primary textbooks and their practical relatability experienced by the children through teaching-learning process, with an additional focus on the situation in Bangladesh. While a number of researches approached textbook illustration as a major system of instruction, or probed into their effectiveness and appropriateness, they unequivocally emphasized that the illustrations were to be relatable from the vantage points of the children involved. Review of the very few studies conducted in Bangladesh showed that textbook illustration, let alone the practical relatability of it, was not yet a momentous factor to care for in the curriculum development practices. A thematic review process of the literature yielded seven themes that met the scope of the study and were reviewed: (a) illustration in children's learning, (b) relation of illustration and text in children's experience, (c) illustration for today's children, (d) practical relatability in children's illustration, (e) illustration in children's literature in Bangladesh, (f) illustration in primary textbooks in Bangladesh, and (g) practical relatability in illustrations in Bangladeshi primary textbooks.

Keywords: illustration, primary education, textbook design, curriculum