Getting going on A2 American

This is essentially a posting about the virtues of the CNN app for US Politics students

Apropos of completely nothing I was chatting to some A level Politics students about their courses next year and they were pretty unsure what they were going to be studying in terms of content, learning outcomes, and so forth.

Now is not the time to get into the value of the intrinsic benefits of studying the politics and government of the world’s most powerful nation, so let’s take a purely utilitarian slant.

Essentially the A2 course across the various boards in terms of the American element parallels the people and institutions in the UK/AS course. But there the similarity pretty much ends. I would argue that if you wanted to find a political system in the western democratic world that contrasted more sharply with Britain’s you would be hard pressed to find one that outshone America.

In terms of exam standards it needs to be stressed that the level of detail and complexity evident from the best A2 candidates even in the January exams is impressive. Politically, we are two countries divided by a common language. Therefore it is not simply a case of relying on AS knowledge and changing a few of the examples—as some people not familiar with examining US Politics might have you believe. It is a steep learning curve to get to this standard and requires engagement by students with the subject from the earliest possible opportunity.

A little bit of knowledge is not dangerous…

I have written elsewhere on the site about resources (if I find it when I have access to a decent computer I’ll repost it here) I regularly plunder, but the central point that got me writing this blog takes me to one resource: smartphone apps. Going back to the students mentioned above, I showed them some of the US news sites I had on my phone. If you want to follow suit, start (and maybe end?) with the CNN app. The US version has a good US Politics listing and a daily diet of this will keep you on the same page, or even ahead!, of your US Politics teachers.

Today for instance, to take just one example.

Biden, the VP, is to meet his Chinese equivalent to discuss economic issues. Historically the office of VP has been compared to a warm bodily fluid that years ago people used to deposit in buckets. If so, how come the current incumbent is charged with such a high profile and important job? The office of VP and its importance has been on the syllabus for years and when you come to study it you will have this fresh, up-to-date example as a discussion point. Even as far as OCR is concerned, where the VP as a topic has now been subsumed within the Cabinet, it is worth a punt. Nixon said no person in his right mind gives anything important to his Cabinet. So, again, what’s Biden doing?

I have suggested starting with the CNN app given that the articles are to the point.

Some other suggested apps:

The Huffington Post – some good comment and links

The Washington Post – length and number of articles don’t make this for me a quick and easy A level app

The New York Times (though some subscriber issues and a bit of a hassle)

Slate.com – interesting features but some are a bit random in terms of syllabus related content