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Guidelines Study Aids, or The Blue Books, as they are often called, have been around for 36 years and there are several reasons why they continue to be popular:
Time was when teachers frowned on the use of commercial study guides. Many felt that they provided learners with a ‘shortcut’ to information, an easy way out the night before a test or exam. Teachers of literature, in particular, felt that their learners were replacing original texts with study guides, that their less committed students considered it easier to read a study guide than to grapple with Dickens or Shakespeare. In all fairness, perhaps the study guides of the past did accommodate these learners’ whims.
Today, however, the situation has changed. The study guides produced by Guidelines have definitely not been written for the lazy student who is looking for a way out of hard work. The newer publications are now much more challenging and also more interactive than their predecessors. For example, where literature is concerned, a Guidelines study guide is not simply a summary of a novel or play, with a few comments and questions thrown in for good measure; today it includes an in-depth analysis of the text and a discussion of themes, character, style, language and other important aspects. Questions and suggested answers are also included.
The current curriculum for each subject is followed so that most Guidelines titles could, in fact, be used as textbooks. Ideally, though, they are intended to complement both textbook and teaching. In a few cases known to the publishers, Guidelines aids have been used by learners who do not have teachers, for one reason or another – and used successfully.
These publications are also valuable as a source of supplementary information and in these times when both teachers and learners are constantly involved in research, they provide useful background information for projects.
Every attempt is made to keep abreast of changing trends in education. Curriculum changes, are also noted, so that Guidelines material is always relevant. All titles are available at any time: if a customer requires a particular title, and it is not in stock, a copy or copies will be printed on the spot and delivered to the customer, if this is required.
*Subject Guides – these are available for most subjects for Grades 10, 11 and 12 and for certain Grade 9 subjects. Our Mathematics, Physical Science and Geography guides have been best sellers for a number of years. It is hoped that within the next two years we will have study guides for every one of the subjects in the Further Education and Training band.
*Literature Guides – available in over 1000 titles. Every year Guidelines publishes study guides for any new books and poetry selections that may be prescribed for any of the provinces, as well as for the IEB.
*Past Papers – the five most recent Matric exam. papers with suggested memoranda are included in these books, which are updated every year. Subjects include Mathematics, Physical Science, Biology, English First Language(Language), Afrikaans Additional Language, Accounting, Economics, Business Economics, Computyping, Rekenaartik and Geography. Various National paper exams are available, as well as certain papers written in Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the IEB.
A recent development has been the publication of textbooks for certain subjects in the FET band. All the books in the textbook series include a Learner’s Book and a Teaching & Assessment Guide. |
Clever Books was founded 25 years ago by two former teachers. Initially, the company was run out of the garage of one of the founders, but as it steadily grew and became more successful, so new premises had to be found and more staff hired. By 2000 the turnover had increased to nearly R20 million and in 2001 Clever Books was bought by Macmillan SA.
Clever Books publishes a wide variety of excellent educational products. These materials support learners and teachers in schools as well as parents who consider home schooling for their children. Our Clever Books Club offers a range of materials to club members at special rates.
While Clever Books is best-known for Primary School textbooks, it now produces a range of titles from Grade R to Grade 12. Recently, the company published the first African language bilingual Science and Maths Dictionaries and is also the only publisher of an Additional Maths textbook for the new curriculum in the country.
Well-trained staff will assist with all enquiries and teacher support is offered on an ongoing basis. Clever Books, as part of the Macmillan Group, has nine provincial offices. These offices may be contacted for any enquiries, information or local support regarding Clever Books titles. |
Macmillan is one of the world's best known, privately owned, publishing groups. The principal shareholder is Verlagsgruppe Georg Von Holtzbrinck - Germany's largest Educational Publishing House.
The company was founded by Daniel Macmillan who, together with his brother Alexander, published their first book in 1843.
Daniel's grandson, Harold Macmillan, joined in 1923 and contributed to the company's success over a period of more than 60 years. He was Prime Minister of the UK from 1956 to 1963.
Harold Macmillan's famous "winds of change" tour of Africa in the 1960s not only changed the political face of Africa, but also provided the grand old man of publishing an opportunity to expand the Macmillan publishing empire throughout the continent - from oil rich Nigeria to diamond rich South Africa.
Harold Macmillan's winds of change continued to blow throughout South Africa in the 1970s and Macmillan Boleswa emerged as a fresh breeze from the old, conservative style of southern African publishing - and soon became a potent educational publishing force in the region.
The winds of change altered the way in which Macmillan perceived its publishing objectives in southern Africa. Macmillan very quickly discarded the conventional view that the difficult South African market should be challenged head on, and the focus was changed to the BLS countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland), where few publishers ventured.
From a relatively small Swaziland base, unfettered by apartheid constraints, Boleswa grew rapidly - and became the first affirmative action publishing company - long before it was fashionable. With strong editorial and production support from the UK, Boleswa developed fresh, innovative products, which were light years ahead of the competition.
The winds of change which gave birth to Boleswa were often tempestuous and frequently unpredictable, but they resulted in the creation of a major publishing undertaking in the southern African region. Today, Boleswa and its subsidiaries are a group with a strong, diverse publishing team - able to operate independently of the parent UK company.
Companies within the Boleswa group are as follows:
Macmillan Boleswa Publishers
Macmillan Botswana
Macmillan Lesotho
Macmillan South Africa
Macmillan Swaziland National Publishing Company
Macmillan Moçambique Lda.
Nolwazi Educational Publishers
Clever Books (Pty)Ltd.
Education Link Publishers |
Pan Macmillan South Africa is a subsidiary of the Macmillan group in the UK and forms the trade division of the company. In addition to our Macmillan product we also represent a number of international agencies. These include Guinness World Records, Walker Books, Hodder (representing Hodder Wayland and Teach Yourself), Frances Lincoln, Priddy Books, Rodale, Gill & Macmillan and SMP amongst others.
In May 2004, Pan Macmillan launched an exciting new imprint, PICADOR AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA is an inevitable extension to Picador, Since its UK launch in 1972, Picador has been single-minded in its pursuit of outstanding international writing, a philosophy which has led to critical and commercial success all over the world. Overseas stablemates of Picador UK's award-winning list of authors - Michael Ondaatje, Tom Wolfe, Julian Barnes, Alice Sebold, Helen Fielding - already include Richard Flanagan and Tim Winton in Australia, Jeffrey Eugenides and Paul Auster in the US, and VS Naipaul in India. In October 2004, The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst received the Man Booker Award.
As its name suggests, Picador Africa comprises African literature - fiction and non-fiction - written by Africans. The primary aim of the imprint is to raise awareness, both locally and internationally, of the importance and value of African writing. The imprint was introduced with a number of Ravan re-issues and 'classics' such as Steve Biko's I Write What I Like, Ellen Kuzwayo's Call Me Woman, Mongane Wally Serote's To Every Birth its Blood and Es'kia Mphahlele's autobiographical work, Down Second Avenue. By the end of 2004 we had released five new titles by authors Alexandra Fuller, David Cohen, Chris van Wyk, Ahmed Essop and Chris Abani. Our 2005 line-up included works by Professor Tobias, Moses Isegawa, Lisa Fugard and Jonathan Kaplan. In 2006 we have published works by David Medalie, Lewis de Soto, Peter Godwin & Njabulo S Ndebele. |
Macmillan has an office in Gaborone in Botswana. Contact us at:
PO Box 56305 Block 10
Airport Road
PO Box 1155
Gaborone
Botswana
Telephone: +267 391 1770
Facsimile: +267 391 1897
e-mail: info@macmillan.bw |
Macmillan has an office in Maseru in Lesotho. Contact us at:
PO Box 7545
Maseru
100
Lesotho
Telephone: +266 22 317340
Facsimile: +266 22 310047
e-mail: macmillan@lesoff.co.ls |
Macmillan has an office in Manzini in Swaziland. Contact us at:
PO Box 1235
Manzini
Swaziland
Telephone: +268 51 84533
Facsimile: +268 51 85247
e-mail: macmillan@africaonline.co.sz |
Macmillan has an office in Maputo in Moçambique. Contact us at:
PO Box 2976
Maputo
Telephone: +258 1 427 801
Facsimile: +258 1 313 737
e-mail: macmillanmoc@teledata.mz |
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