| Hello. Jonathan Briggs, isn't it? |
| Yes, that's right. |
| Do come in and sit down. |
| Thanks. |
| Right. |
| Well, Jonathan, as we explained in your letter, |
| in this part of the interview, we like to talk through your application form... |
| your experience to date, etc.... |
| and then in the second part, |
| you go for a group interview. |
| Group interview... yes, I understand... |
| So... your first degree was in Economics? |
| Yes, but I also did Politics as a major strand. |
| And you graduated in 1989. |
| And I see you have been doing some teaching... |
| Yes. I worked as a volunteer teacher in West Africa. |
| I was there for almost three years in total from.... |
| 1990 to... 1992. |
| How interesting. |
| What organisation was that with? |
| It's not one of the major ones. It's called Teach South. |
| Oh, right. |
| Yes, I have heard of it. |
| It operates in several African countries, doesn't it? |
| And what kind of school was it? |
| A rural co-operative. |
| Oh, a rural co-operative, how interesting... |
| and what did you teach? |
| A variety of things in different years... |
| I did... with Forms 1 to 3 mainly Geography |
| and some English with Form 5. |
| Then in my final year, |
| I took on some Agricultural Science with the top year... |
| that's Form 6. |
| Right. Quite a variety then... |
| I also ran the school farm. |
| How interesting... |
| And how did you find the whole experience? |
| I'll be honest with you. |
| At the end of the first year I really wanted to leave and come home. |
| Oh, why was that? |
| Well... I was very homesick at first and missed my family... |
| Yes, I can understand that. |
| and I also found it frustrating to have so few teaching resources, |
| but I did decide to stay |
| and in the end I extended my tour to a third year. |
| Right. |
| Things must have looked up then? |
| Yes. We set up a very successful project breeding cattle to sell locally. |
| Really? |
| And then after a lot of hard work we finally got funds for new farm buildings. |
| And you wanted to see things through? |
| And that's why you want to train to teach Geography? |
| Yes. |
| I've had a couple of jobs since then |
| but I now realise I like teaching best. |
| And I chose Geography because... |
| because it is my favourite subject... |
| and also because I think it has so many useful applications. |
| Well... you certainly have had some interesting work experience. |
| I'll ask you now to go on to the next stage... |