PGCE Students

Michael Roche - degree in Politics, University of Hertfordshire, and an MA in Biblical Studies, Heythrop College, London I have just completed the past six years in my role as Pastoral Assistant at a catholic parish in north west London. I was involved in evangelisation and catechesis with adults and young people aged 11-18. I was looking to make a professional change and teaching seemed the natural choice. Teachers have played an important part in my life and my faith development, so inspired by their example I thought it would be a privilege to be able to do the same for some other young people. RE is so important. It helps young people to develop their thinking and to explore the big questions. These are skills they need for the whole of life, and if I can help even just one young person through my teaching of RE, that would be an honour.

- degree in Theology and Religious Studies St Mary's University, Twickenham; I was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. I came to the UK in 2001, where I did my GCSEs, A levels, and recently, my degree. I have had the privilege of attending very good schools and as a result I have had many good and influential teachers, not just in the RE departments, but across the curriculum. My interest however for choosing to teach RE stems from a religious background and a deep interest in the subject as a whole. I find that RE is the most relevant and holistic subject on the national curriculum. It is not just learning about different faiths, it is also about developing one's ability to interact and communicate with people on different levels and different walks of life. It challenges a person to think outside the box and it enables people to be interpersonal and relate to other people who are different. The best RE teacher I had was in secondary school. She brought ‘flavour' and innovative ways of introducing a new topic which was very inspirational. Alongside this, I have many experiences of working with children, some of these include basketball coaching to primary school children, paired reading and helping children with their reading skills. Finally, I love RE because of the kinds of questions that are raised and the endless responses that are sometimes neither right or wrong. It is interesting, engaging, informative and very relevant!

- degree in History of Art/Publishing from Oxford Brookes University;I had a three year gap between my degree in History of Art and Publishing before applying for my PGCE in RE. This allowed me time to consider my future career options whilst also traveling the world. I have always been hugely interested in religions, being a practicing Catholic, whilst also independently exploring other faiths and cultures first hand. When I was in SE Asia I was particularly inspired by Buddhism and its influence on daily life and society and I feel I can bring these insights to young people in the classroom.

- degree in Philosophy from the University of SheffieldFollowing my degree in Philosophy, I started to work in the IT industry where I had been for two years. I had accidentally fallen into the type of work I specifically didn't want to do and soon felt as if I was not making any significant contribution to the world! Idealistic I knew! However, having loved my Theology A level and Philosophy degree, I really wanted to get back to the key issues and questions in our society today. What better way to do this than to go back to school and teach in a community and become part of that community. I strongly believe that I have something to give to teaching RE in the classroom but I also hope to be personally fulfilled by what I learn from my students. So here I am…….

Christina Bartkowiak - degree in Theology and Religious Studies, St Mary's University, Twickenham Throughout my schooling I was fascinated with science and the explanations it could give for the world around me. I was also brought up a Roman Catholic and have always taken my religion seriously. I was intrigued by the profound insights into human behaviour that religion focused on but it wasn't until A level that I was able to marry the two together when I embarked on the Philosophy A level. I had not taken RE GCSE and remember feeling shocked and in some respects appalled that it had taken me until higher education to be introduced to these concepts, of hypotheses for ultimate questions, and to challenge me on a level unparalleled until then. I went on to study Theology at degree level and this continued to awaken a true interest in the many and varied aspects of religion, but particularly Christianity. I also came to realize that I had a passion for helping young people launch themselves into a post compulsory education world. The two together compelled me to enter the teaching profession in order to try to create a positive and thought provoking RE experience for young people.

Cathy is PGCE subject tutor for Religious Education at St Mary's University College, Twickenham. Her cohort for 2007-2008 is entered here.

- degree in Religious Education, Media Studies and ICT from St Mary's University, Twickenham; I was inspired to teach RE from my RE teacher during my key stage 3 level education. Her musical talent hooked me to the lesson as I shared a similar passion for singing. My secondary education took a holistic approach to the classroom and it helped me to flourish as a person as well as an academic student. I have also had experience of poop teaching during my primary years, so I feel both experiences of positive and negative will influence my own approach to teaching. As I have grown up, I have become friends with teachers in various areas which I think has influenced my personality and desire to teach. My parents also work in the medical field which has led to my biomedical and ethical mentality, so my degree helped to answer a few of those questions. I also feel my degree taught me so much about the value of listening to other people's life experiences and being open to re-evaluate my own principles and views.

Degree in Theology and RS, St Mary's University; I chose to do the PGCE in Secondary R.E for a number of reasons. As well as being inspired by my R.E teachers in Secondary school, I believe that R.E is a subject that is not been warranted the appreciation it deserves. In my experience, students regard R.E as being an unimportant subject. I believe however, especially within the multicultural and multi-faith society that Britain has become, R.E is of great value and importance to all people. Setting aside the context of Religion in the modern-day society, becoming a R.E teacher provides you with a unique opportunity to inspire young minds and equip students not just with religious knowledge, but with abilities and skills which demand and develop their view upon the world and widen their ways of thinking and analysis which can be applied to their experiences and journey through their own individual lives.

- Joint honour's degree in Religion and History from St Mary's University, Twickenham;I have been brought up in a Catholic family and attended Mass regularly, and so my faith has always been very important to me. I also attended a primary and secondary catholic school in N. Ireland where I studied Religion to A level. I decided to continue studying Religion to degree level at St Mary's in Twickenham following advice from my Religious Studies teacher at my secondary school. Whilst at St Mary's I have been strongly involved with the chaplaincy team, being Eucharistic minister at Mass and going on the annual retreat organized by the chaplaincy. I have also been very involved in helping in all fundraising events at St Mary's towards supporting children's charities and raising money for children to go on the Easter pilgrimage to Lourdes. In the Summer 06 I attended a special needs camp in Boston and it was this experience which confirmed my decision to become a teacher, as I realized how much I would enjoy working and helping children as they develop. I have also had the privilege of being elected Students' Union President of St. Mary's for the academic year 2007/08. This role involved running the Students Union for a year, line managing and leading a team of 6. I representing all student concerns at all university meeting and as a student governor I attended the University Board of Governors meetings. Furthermore I had to organize all student events and activities for the students, catering for all student needs throughout the year. It was a very rewarding experience and I loved helping and providing for all the students at St Mary's. The experience certainly strengthened my character and further encouraged my ambition to become a teacher. I have a love for religious education and I hope to impart my knowledge to children helping them grow and develop

- degree in Religious Studies and Theology with History from St Mary's University, Twickenham; I came to gain my interest in teaching RE by default. I had originally applied to do a PGCE in Primary teaching for which I was accepted. However, after becoming an LSA in a secondary school for a year during my gap year, I found I had a much deeper interest in working with older children. I decided I would like to teach RE in particular as it was always one of my personal favourite subjects but also one of those subjects I think everyone enjoys. Having seen many good RE lessons being taught during my year as an LSA I decided that it was the subject I too wanted to teach, as, when it is well taught, it is the most enjoyable and gratifying subject in terms of both community cohesion as well as personal development.