Teachers have a big responsibility making sure children develop and learn in the best possible way. This is the reason principals, head teachers and human resource people are very careful when they employ new teachers.
Experts recommend that teaching candidates prepare as much as possible before the interview, so they have a better chance of giving the answers the employers want to hear. Below are some interview questions and their answers teaching candidates can expect.
Who Is The Candidate?
Interviews will ask the candidate to give a brief description of him or herself. Basically, they are asking why they should hire the candidate.
The response should be short, about two minutes, but cover important areas such as “As you many have seen from my resume, I graduated from Name of University in Subject, and have had five years of experience teaching in Name of School”.
The candidate should mention any special skills and interests. At the end, he or she should mention why they want to work at that particular school or school district. They should also include a short reason why they became a teacher.
Many people answer that they love children, others answer that they love learning. One unusual answer is that the candidate hated school and wants to be sure some other children love it.
How Does the Candidate Envision a Good Classroom?
Another possible question is “how would you prepare your classroom?” The candidate should take about two minutes to answer, and give information that will show their philosophy of teaching, organizational skills and attitude towards the students.
Basically, the best answer shows how the classroom will be arranged and decorated and whether the candidate has organized lesson plans, text books and other teaching tools.
The candidate can mention several activities that they have planned. The best answer shows that the candidate is enthusiastic, passionate and organized in relation to his or her classroom and students.
What Is Good Student Evaluation?
How the candidate evaluates his or her students is another important question that will be asked. The best answer should show that the candidate believes in a broad range of evaluation methods.
Some examples can be exams and quizzes, open discussions, out of class reading, class participation, group activities and general motivation towards learning and succeeding.
How Does the Candidate Deal with Differently Enabled Learners?
Teacher interview questions are designed to evaluate the candidate’s flexibility in teaching. The question may be “how do you teach the same subject at different levels so that slow learners as well as advanced learners can benefit?”
The best answer gives an idea of how the teacher will prepare assignments for different level students. For example, they may give the advanced learner outside reading or research assignments.
During class time, the teacher can ask questions that require different levels of understanding. The important point in this answer is that candidates not overlook different styles of learning and plan ahead to meet the needs of his or her students.
What Are Some Good Trends in Education?
Interviewers will want to know if the candidate is up-to-date with the latest trends in education whether the trends are good or bad. The main trend today is teaching with the aid of the Internet.
There is a lot of information that is presented interestingly and attractively online, and this is appealing to students who have grown up in the Digital Age. The candidate needs to be fully conversant with this technology and how to use it in the classroom to the best effect.
They should also mention that there is a lot online that can damage children and give examples of how they will help children understand and use discrimination for what they see online.
Another important trend may be teaching through multiple intelligences, which means teaching the same thing through different methods because children relate to knowledge in different ways. For example, visual and auditory tools can be used as well as taste and smell in some cases.
What is Unique about How You Teach?
One thing employers want to see in a teacher is a positive impact on their students. There are several questions that employers may ask to elicit the response they want to hear.
For example, the question may be general, such as what is your classroom like? The best answer is that the classroom has animated discussions, give and take conversations, debates as well as high-quality visual displays and the use of a variety of teaching tools.
Candidates should prepare some examples before they go for an interview that illustrates how they relate to children and how their students relate to them.
The most important thing a teaching candidate can do during a job interview is to answer interview questions in a way that shows their sincere interest and enthusiasm for teaching.