A systematic review of research on teachers’ guides

Abstract

This article presents the results of a systematic review of research on teachers’ guides. A teachers’ guide is defined as text directed at the teacher guiding the use of a didactic learning material, i.e. learning resources made for purposes of teaching and learning. The review is conducted to identify the main research areas in international research about teachers’ guides, and what the research can tell us about the various aspects of teachers’ guides. We included methodically diverse research published 1990-2020 focusing on primary school and lower secondary school. 43 studies were included. We inductively identified six themes that stood out when reading across the included articles: The historical development of teachers’ guides, analytical approaches to teachers’ guides, research on teachers’ use of teacher guides, teachers’ interpretation or engagement with teachers’ guides, and what teachers’ guides should provide according to teachers and researchers respectively.