Do you want to become a textbook specialist?
If so, what type of knowledge do you need to have?
Time: 1pm-4pm, March 10th Room: Belle Chasse
Description of Session Edit Description of Session
Objective of the Workshop: This workshop will go over the various roles of each stakeholder in the textbook chain. Participants will be introduced to the role that donors policies play in textbook acquisition; strategies for textbook acquisition in various countries; the publishing industry - how books are published and marketed; printing technology; textbook distribution methods; the role that booksellers play in distribution, copyrights and piracy issues; and methods to minimize corruption of book procurement and teacher training issues.
Textbooks are important tools for supporting learning. Yet in many low-income countries there is a shortage of textbooks that result in students not learning. Many of these students spend precious classroom time copying notes from blackboards or taking down notes dictated by teachers. In cases where textbooks are available, reports show that some textbooks remain unused and are put away in storage because teachers lack the necessary training to use textbooks, or they are concerned about future supplies of books, and therefore, hoard them and use them sparingly.
Textbook specialists play an important role in assessing the health of a textbook and learning provision by looking at the various components that go into producing textbooks. For example, textbook experts know the importance of national language policies as these dictate whether books in local languages are available for students to use in the early grades. A textbook expert is aware of the importance of textbook production specifications as they dictate the readability and durability of a textbook. Finally a textbook specialist is conversant with procurement guidelines and bidding documents and methods available to bidders.
Objectives of the workshop: Provide working knowledge to participants about what it takes to develop, publish, print, and distribute quality books and educational materials to students in low-income countries. Topics will include curricular issues, teacher training, procurement issues,distribution and sustainability.
The Target Audience: Anyone working on creating and providing textbooks and/or educational materials to students in low-income countries. There are many NGO’s and CSO’s working on providing library, textbooks and other reading materials in low-income countries. However, most of these people are experts in their area of work but not in the areas such as publishing and/or printing. They usually have little or no idea about country specific curricular issues or the role that teacher guides and training make in enabling usage of books produced and supplied to schools. This workshop will introduce a set of good practices as part of the textbook chain to enable participants to learn what each textbook stakeholder does and the various challenges and solutions at each level.
Instructional goals: Participants will gain technical knowledge and best practices at every level of the textbooks chain. They will also understand what the issues are in each of these levels and get an opportunity to brainstorm on possible solutions.
Planned workshop activities: There will be presentations on various key issues of the textbook chain by textbook experts/specialists. Areas that will be explored include: technical specification for durable textbooks; distribution issues; curricular issues; textbook costing; teacher training, and textbook classroom usage. Students will be asked to play the role of a textbook specialist and advise the organization or country interested in acquiring textbooks for its students.
A group exercise on a sample case study will also be part of the activities of this workshop.
Instructional staff: Helen Abadzi (Global Partnership for Education); Mary Nyingi (Global Partnership for Education); Koli Banik (Global Partnership for Education); Alfonso de Guzman (Senior Education Specialist Staff – Retired); and Richard Crabbe (World Bank’s Office of the Publisher - Retired) |
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