Former dealing with theoretical-methodological issues of textbooks assessment in pedagogy and subject didactics were predominantly connected with the evaluation of professional and factual correctness of the learning text or with the measurement of suitability of the text for various categories of learners (Knecht, Janík 2008). In recent decades the discussion of textbook’s functions in educational process has been evolving, as well as the expectations that learners, teachers, even a society have in relation to the textbooks (Maňák 2008). More frequently, the textbooks have been regarding through a prism of sociocultural approach in research of curricular materials (Sikorová 2008) as a powerful medium of intentional interpretation and for formation of values and attitudes beyond knowledge (Moore 2011).

The textbooks, namely the geographic ones, enable to form the learner’s mental images about space, that are created and reformed during the whole life of the individual on the basis of acquired knowledge and experiences (Siwek 2011; Catling 1979). Athough in this respect, the textbooks have their significant competitors in others types of media, especially the visual ones, like television, internet or DVDs (Golightly 2008), the textbooks are still mandatory medium certified by educational authorities (like ministry of education), which is supposed to be acquired by a learner. Despite the persisting goal of regional geography textbooks, which is to present the images of particular regions and places, the presentations of identical territories have been transformed during the time. Not only territories themselves are developing, but also the political and societal ideologies are changing and consequently the appreciation of different characteristics of the territories.

Presenting and describing parts of geographical space, people use topographical names, that are institutionalized (Paasi 1986) – e.g. agreed by authorized committees – or their meaning is known to more people –e.g. community’s knowledge of local names. Therefore each topographical name has its mental meaning (for an individual, a community or a whole society) and simultaneously it considers be a symbol of certain phenomenon or activity (e.g. economical) or an expression of identity (e.g. places of heritage). According to topographical names used in textbook, their context, the frequency of their occurrence, it could be supposed which values of territories are emphasized to by an author or a current ideology.

The aim of the poster is to introduce a method, which could be used for an assessment of textbooks either from various time periods or from different producers or diverse cultural environments in presentation of the same territories. The tool for assessment was named “a topographical names map” and it is a tool of cartographic visualization. In Czech science it was introduced by Hudeček (2004) for the first time under not very precise name “a teaching map”. It is a special type of thematic map that depicts those topographical terms that are used in particular (geographical) textbook or its part. The map shows data on the frequency of occurrence of used topographical names. The spatial equality or inequality in presentation of observed territory is evident from the map for the first sight in terms of preferred parts of the territory and intentional enforcement or suppression of its selected characteristics. Beside the introduction of this particular method, the poster aspires to answer a question: Which areas, places and symbols of the region were highlighted in the different time periods and why were they important?

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