Soon, International Baccalaureate Diploma Program students in Dwight Global Online School’s Business Management classes will have the pleasure of learning with a Pearson-published textbook written by their very own teacher, Mr. Peter Atkins.
Mr. Atkins, who teaches at both Dwight Global and Dwight Dubai, was recruited by the Pearson publishing team to write the book using the newest specifications for business. Dr Hareem Navaid, a Dwight Dubai teacher and colleague of Mr. Atkins, co-authored the book.
“I have worked with the IB in the capacity of a workshop leader for many years and as a senior examiner for IB DP Business Management. The Pearson team was keen to draw on my experience to help develop this new resource for IB students. This is my first published book and it has been a rewarding experience,” said Mr. Atkins.
Mr. Atkins said total production time for the finished textbook, from concept to publication, took a full year. It required dedicated time each week for various components, such as writing content, developing case studies, formulating IB questions, making TOK links, sourcing images, and ensuring alignment to the official IB Business Management syllabus and assessment objectives for each unit.
“Throughout the year I also met regularly with the publishing team as the book went through various required rounds of editing, proofreading and checking,” Mr. Atkins said.
The new author said initially he experienced a bit of writer’s block, but it wasn’t long before things started to flow.
“The publishing team at Pearson were very supportive throughout and they had a good idea of how they wanted things to shape up based on the other IB DP textbooks they had developed. There were some fairly strict deadlines to adhere to, so I was living the life of an IB student throughout the process! I was also grateful for the tremendous support of the administration and staff at Dwight Global, as well,” Mr. Atkins said.
The IB DP Business Management Class
The IB DP Business Management class itself is a comprehensive two-year long business class that covers everything students need to know about a startup business.
Future employees, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and social entrepreneurs need to be confident, creative, and compassionate as change agents for business in an increasingly interconnected global marketplace, and the business management course is designed to encourage the development of these attributes. Units of learning include categories and classifications of businesses, financial knowledge and operations, human resource management, and marketing knowledge. Mr. Atkins also covers business content, concepts, and tools to assist with business decision-making.
Engaged Business Students
Dwight Global senior Gabriele Badino was Mr. Atkins’ student last year and will have him again this coming year, since the course allows for one faculty member to follow the same students for two years running through the IB DP junior and senior years.
“Business management is one of my favorite courses, and it is also what I am looking forward to studying in college, so I try to make the best out of every learning experience possible in Mr. Atkins’ class. Our final exam case study was centered around the aerospace and private jet industry, and we were tasked with critically analyzing a scenario to then make the best business decision possible for the company, all using terminology and theory we had learned throughout the year,” said Gabriele.
He continued, “During live lessons we explored many different activities ranging from analyzing case studies to researching events in the business world. We learned to apply different concepts and methods of analysis, such as STEEPLE (social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal, and ethical) and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), to real-world business cases.”
“This summer I have started working on my Internal Assessment, which will be centered around the Salmonella outbreak that the company Ferrero suffered last year,” Gabriele said. “I will be analyzing the contingency planning the company had before the outbreak as well as the crisis management after the outbreak occurred.”
“Students act as mini consultants to solve a real world problem in the business world, and they do this at the pre-university level,” said Mr. Atkins. “There is a level of depth and a wideness of breadth in the course that makes it exciting, interesting, and important,” said Mr. Akins. “We have ordered the new textbook and I plan to have students use it by the start of the academic year, 2023-24!”
By Caroline Crosson Gilpin
