Books & arts

AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON ADULT LEARNING

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST BY AFRICAN PUBLISHERS

2001-11-22, Issue 43

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/4254

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The Department of Adult Education of the University of Botswana, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association, and the UNESCO Institute for Education, are cooperating to develop a textbook series entitled AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON ADULT LEARNING. The purpose of the series is to provide accessible textbooks to students in Africa studying adult education, especially at the Diploma and Bachelor's degree level. The Series Editorial Board invites the submission of Expressions of Interest by commercial publishers in Africa. Expressions of Interest by African Publishers should be submitted by January 4th, 2002.

Department of Adult Education
University of Botswana, Gaborone

UNESCO Institute for Education, Hamburg

Institute for International Cooperation
German Adult Education Association, Bonn

AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON ADULT LEARNING
A TEXTBOOK SERIES

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST BY AFRICAN PUBLISHERS

The Department of Adult Education of the University of Botswana, the
Institute for International Co-operation of the German Adult
Education Association, and the UNESCO Institute for Education, are
cooperating to develop a textbook series entitled AFRICAN
PERSPECTIVES ON ADULT LEARNING. The purpose of the series is to
provide accessible textbooks to students in Africa studying adult
education, especially at the Diploma and Bachelor's degree level. The
books will be co-published by a commercial publisher in Africa with
the UNESCO Institute for Education (first co-publisher) and the
Institute for International Co-operation of the German Adult
Education Association (second co-publisher).

Initially, there will be five titles in the series, as follows:

* Foundations of Adult Education in Africa
* The Psychology of Adult Learning in Africa
* Programme Development in African Adult Education
* Research Methods in African Adult Education
* The Social Context of Adult Education in Africa

Each book will be between 200 and 250 pages long, and it will be
expected to provide an overview of the topic, to introduce
appropriate theory, to provide discussion and examples rooted in
professional practice, actual policies and empirical research, and to
indicate further areas of inquiry and reading. A key principle is
that the textbooks will reflect African social realities, theoretical
and cultural perspectives, policies and modes of practice.

The Project Proposal document containing full details of the Textbook
Series specifies the co-publishing arrangement as follows:

The project will identify a commercial publisher in Africa willing to
be the primary publisher and to co-publish the textbook series with
the UNESCO Institute for Education and IIZ/DVV. The primary
publisher will receive approved manuscripts and take responsibility
for preparing them for publication (including insertion of
illustrations where appropriate). The primary publisher will oversee
printing, and develop an Africa-wide marketing and distribution
strategy. The co-publishers will assist with the marketing and
distribution of the books. The subsidy inherent in the project will
support manuscript development costs and guarantee an initial
purchase of a specified number of books, so that the unit costs of
the books will be kept as low as possible. (For example, the project
will pay writing fees to authors and there will be no royalty
payments.) The primary publisher will be expected to retain books in
stock and ensure that titles remain in print for a period of time to
be determined by the Series Editorial Board. The decision on the
primary publisher will be taken at the meeting of the Series
Editorial Board in January 2002. The criteria for choice will
include: textbook publishing track record; business viability;
evidence of commitment to project goals; willingness to participate
in the Series Editorial Board and support capacity-building
activities for authors; and accessibility for communication.
Following the decision, a formal co-publishing agreement will be
entered into between the primary publisher and the UNESCO Institute
for Education and IIZ/DVV.

The Series Editorial Board invites the submission of Expressions of
Interest by commercial publishers in Africa. The Expression of
Interest letter should address the criteria listed above. It must be
accompanied by samples of the company's published textbooks.

The decision of the Board will be conveyed to the publisher in the
first week of February 2002. The selected publisher must be willing
to attend a workshop with authors in Gaborone, Botswana in mid-March
2002, at which the expectations of the Series Editorial Board and of
the co-publishers will be discussed and clarified.

Expressions of Interest by African Publishers should be submitted by
January 4th, 2002 to:

Professor Frank Youngman
Series Managing Editor
Department of Adult Education
University of Botswana
P/Bag 0022,
Gaborone,
Botswana.

e-mail: youngman@mopipi.ub.bw
tel: 267-3552266

Further clarification and advice can be sought from Professor
Youngman.

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