Process in Lower School Science Textbooks

School science teaching is often criticised for being didactic and too centred on the products of science. A number of important bodies urge teachers to give more attention to science as a way of thinking and working. However, what they mean by process‐centred investigative approaches is often unclear. The content of a number of science texts claiming to support such an approach and intended for use in the lower secondary school was analysed to see how the authors interpreted the approach. In general, the authors were inclined to use practical activities as a vehicle for concept acquisition. When processes did assume a greater importance than concepts, the incidence of open‐ended investigatory work was low. Although many texts claim to give more attention to a process‐centred investigatory approach, in practice they do not seem to have broken the mould. There were also indications that science teachers themselves have inadequate notions of a process‐based approach. Such texts are, therefore, not only deficient but are misleading and may help to defeat the nascent aims of science education.