The brief
A major educational publisher wanted to learn more about what secondary school History teachers think about the current range of textbooks published for GCSE, and what they’d like to see produced when new qualifications are introduced in the next few years.
The client commissioned Shift Insight to explore these questions through focus groups with History teachers, aiming to uncover their experiences with textbooks across different school contexts, and to identify their likes and dislikes. The findings will help inform the content development of the next generation of GCSE History textbooks.
The approach
Shift Insight conducted three 90-minute focus groups with 16 Heads of Department for History and History teachers teaching GCSE History. Beforehand, we sent teachers a pre-read booklet with excerpts from 6 GCSE History textbooks from a range of publishers. It was important to the client that we gathered honest, unbiased opinions, so the client’s name remained anonymous throughout.
The moderator presented selected excerpts in the focus groups via screen share, which were compared and discussed, to uncover teacher preferences, and identify any gaps in the current textbook market.
The value
Shift produced an in-depth report for the client, with a conclusion outlining overall preferences for GCSE History textbooks, to inform the next stage of product development.
