My latest school textbook for Collins is a complete coursebook for the rather enigmatically titled ‘English General Paper’, an international exam offered by the Cambridge International Exam Board. I co-wrote it with Mike Gould in the UK and Babita Persaud in the USA.
I began work on this a year ago, and it’s been quite demanding. For one thing, I’ve never taught this course, though I have taught international students and been an examiner for the European Baccalaureate for many years. I’ve often worked with Mike before, though not with Babita – whose experience teaching the course in Florida was invaluable.
Endorsement
We wanted to get the book endorsed by the Cambridge Exam Board. This is quite a rigorous process, aimed to ensure that a book is genuinely helpful and covers all aspects of a course. Thanks to Collins’ methodical editorial approach, we succeeded in this. That endorsement should assure teachers that the book will provide their students with comprehensive guidance.
What’s it about?
But what is the ‘General Paper’ about? Boiled down to its essence, it’s all about critical thinking, testing students’ ability to understand a variety of non-fiction texts and evaluate the reliability of the evidence they give to support or refute an argument. It is also about enabling them to express their own ideas effectively.
This, it seems to me, is a highly valuable set of skills, not just in practical areas such as business management, but in any broader policy-making context. I like to think that students using the book today might be involved in governments of the future. At the very least, they will become more critical consumers of news media, and therefore more reliably informed voters. They will also be able to express their own views more clearly.
At a time when we are surrounded by competing viewpoints on international events, and claims of ‘fake news’, this seems increasingly important.
International appeal
The book will be used in schools and colleges across the world, so it uses a variety of international texts, covering subjects including the economy, climate change, genetically modified crops, space travel and AI. It was challenging but equally rewarding to find suitable texts. I hope teachers and students enjoy using them.
There is also a teacher book to back up use of the student book, as well as a learning hub of useful PowerPoints and worksheets.