John does the Teesside 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 Teesside. He will graduate today.

Now John, 22, from Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, has continued his passion for the past by training as a Secondary History teacher in London.

After leaving Middlesbrough’s Kings Manor School, John decided to study for ‘A’ levels in London, where his father lives. He achieved four ‘A’ 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 Teesside’s History degree after a year.

John said: “I 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’t look at current events without looking at what went on before.

“On 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’s 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.”

In addition to widely differing historical eras, John appreciated the quality of teaching. He said: “The 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’s Learning Resource Centre were also really good, with fantastic links to historical web sites.”

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’s 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.

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