A discussion of the textbook as a technology in science, technology and society field

The studies in Science, Technology and Society (STS) aim to understand simultaneously the social, scientific and technological aspects about its research objects. In this sense, the paper goals to propose a view of the textbook as a technology in the teaching learning process. As theoretical work, its methodology starts from the framework of the STS studies to promote a basis discussion. In this perspective, the textbook is understood as a technological artefact with purpose that brings knowledge to its audience, inserted in a social organization and as a participant of the school culture. Defining it as a technology in the STS field, the textbook is treated from several aspects - pedagogical, political, economic, and social - and in its interrelationship with science and society. Thus, the discussion highlights relegated aspects of the textbook, such as its production focus primarily on the expectations of publishers and MEC evaluators and not o the teachers' and students' needs. Another example is its use to implement educational public policies with political capital gain for the occasional governments, taking advantage of failures in teacher education to establish an official curriculum.