Don't surf around in the Antarctic
TSR informs teachers about the expertise of the private educational publisher Klett und Balmer
TSR informs teachers about the expertise of the private teaching materials publisher Klett and BalmerBy Ernst WeberThe teaching materials market for lower secondary schools is on the move. Private providers are trying to take the reins out of the hands of state publishers. The Zug-based publisher Klett und Balmer is looking for allies among teachers with a campaign designed by the TSR campaign office in Zurich.
According to an estimate by Peter Feller, director of the teaching materials publisher of the Canton of Zurich, the Swiss teaching materials market in the lower primary school sector is worth a good CHF 100 million. However, it is a market dominated by state teaching materials publishers. The state publishers, which have joined together to form intercantonal interest groups such as the Intercantonal Teaching Resources Center (ILZ), make business difficult for private providers. As a result, only a few non-state publishers achieve a significant market share. For example, the educational publisher Klett und Balmer (KB), founded in 1967 by the Stuttgart publisher Ernst Klett and the Zug bookseller Rudolf Balmer, which, according to its own figures, achieves a turnover of 11 million Swiss francs with primary school books developed in-house.
Kurt Scheuermeier, Head of Marketing at KB, gives the current market constellation miserable marks. However, when he talks about a planned economy, he fails to mention the historical interdependencies: in 1891, the then Director of Education of the Canton of Zurich, Alfred Escher, gave in to pressure from the teaching staff, who demanded cantonally defined teaching materials. Their main arguments were equal opportunities for pupils in the event of transfers and changes of residence, a say in the development and evaluation of teaching materials and the greater cost-effectiveness of a cantonal edition.
Collecting good grades with a textbook campaign
"Each canton is sovereign to decide whether it wants to approve a teaching aid or declare it compulsory. Whether a request is made by a private or state publisher, the decision to approve it always lies with the teaching materials commission," says Peter Feller, defending himself against the accusations from the private publishers' camp. State publishers also offer private teaching materials. The LVZ, for example, purchases around a quarter of a million francs worth of teaching materials from KB every year, says Feller.
Martin Stauffer from the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) has even noted a trend towards the privatization or partial privatization of teaching material publishers in some cantons. In the interests of freedom of method, fewer and fewer teaching materials are being declared compulsory.
KB is using this market phase to collect good ratings for its own books with a campaign. The schoolbook-style illustrations point to subjects in which the private publishing house plays to its strengths. The advertising motifs are broken up by a corresponding campaign headline. The geography subject, for example, which shows a surfer in the Antarctic, is entitled: "One day your pupils will be glad they learned geography with Klett."
"The campaign is intended to show what would happen if KB were not represented in the primary school market," says TSR consultant Wolfgang Bollak, explaining the implementation.
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According to an estimate by Peter Feller, director of the teaching materials publisher of the Canton of Zurich, the Swiss teaching materials market in the lower primary school sector is worth a good CHF 100 million. However, it is a market dominated by state teaching materials publishers. The state publishers, which have joined together to form intercantonal interest groups such as the Intercantonal Teaching Resources Center (ILZ), make business difficult for private providers. As a result, only a few non-state publishers achieve a significant market share. For example, the educational publisher Klett und Balmer (KB), founded in 1967 by the Stuttgart publisher Ernst Klett and the Zug bookseller Rudolf Balmer, which, according to its own figures, achieves a turnover of 11 million Swiss francs with primary school books developed in-house.
Kurt Scheuermeier, Head of Marketing at KB, gives the current market constellation miserable marks. However, when he talks about a planned economy, he fails to mention the historical interdependencies: in 1891, the then Director of Education of the Canton of Zurich, Alfred Escher, gave in to pressure from the teaching staff, who demanded cantonally defined teaching materials. Their main arguments were equal opportunities for pupils in the event of transfers and changes of residence, a say in the development and evaluation of teaching materials and the greater cost-effectiveness of a cantonal edition.
Collecting good grades with a textbook campaign
"Each canton is sovereign to decide whether it wants to approve a teaching aid or declare it compulsory. Whether a request is made by a private or state publisher, the decision to approve it always lies with the teaching materials commission," says Peter Feller, defending himself against the accusations from the private publishers' camp. State publishers also offer private teaching materials. The LVZ, for example, purchases around a quarter of a million francs worth of teaching materials from KB every year, says Feller.
Martin Stauffer from the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) has even noted a trend towards the privatization or partial privatization of teaching material publishers in some cantons. In the interests of freedom of method, fewer and fewer teaching materials are being declared compulsory.
KB is using this market phase to collect good ratings for its own books with a campaign. The schoolbook-style illustrations point to subjects in which the private publishing house plays to its strengths. The advertising motifs are broken up by a corresponding campaign headline. The geography subject, for example, which shows a surfer in the Antarctic, is entitled: "One day your pupils will be glad they learned geography with Klett."
"The campaign is intended to show what would happen if KB were not represented in the primary school market," says TSR consultant Wolfgang Bollak, explaining the implementation.
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Klett and Balmer campaign
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