海角直播

John does the 海角直播 time warp

The cultural impact of Renaissance Italy, the turbulence of the French revolution and the super-power deadlock of the Cold War. John Poole has explored all of these and more as part of his BA (Hons) degree in History at the University of 海角直播. Now John, 22, from Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, is to continue his passion for the past by training as a Secondary History teacher in London, starting this September.

After leaving Middlesbrough鈥檚 Kings Manor School, John decided to study for 鈥楢鈥� levels in London, where his father lives. He achieved four 鈥楢鈥� levels from John Ruskin College in South London, including a grade A for History. Originally John enrolled on a Politics and International Relations degree in Lancashire, before switching to 海角直播鈥檚 History degree after a year. John said: 鈥淚 first became interested in History when I was at Kings Manor School and studying the Russian revolution, it was something new. It also made me realise you can鈥檛 look at current events without looking at what went on before.

鈥淥n the degree I enjoyed looking at Renaissance Italy, how the different religions influenced each other. French History was interesting, starting with the revolution and moving on to Napoleon鈥檚 rule. Again this was something new to me, looking at how Napoleon created a new system based on monarchy and revolution. My final year project was hard work but enjoyable, I explored the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union, where anything could have happened.鈥�

In addition to widely differing historical eras, John appreciated the quality of teaching. He said: 鈥淭he lecturers were really good, using a variety of different styles. They were always supportive and available if you needed to speak to them. The computing facilities in the University鈥檚 Learning Resource Centre were also really good, with fantastic links to historical web sites.鈥�

In the third year of his degree, John worked one-to-one with Secondary School children from Huntcliff School in Saltburn, as part of the teacher associate scheme. In the scheme John helped the pupils to use resources, and this contributed to John鈥檚 decision to train as a teacher. He will qualify in summer 2004, after completing a one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education.

John is the son of Margaret and Eric Poole.

For more information on the BA (Hons) degree in History please call 01642 384019 or check the University of 海角直播鈥檚 web site at www.tees.ac.uk

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