Teacher Employment Questions
GENERAL QUESTIONS
- Why did you decide to enter the field of teaching?
- What are your professional experiences?
- How have your past experiences prepared you for teaching?
- How would you describe your last principal?
- What qualities do you have that make you an effective teacher?
- What has been your most positive teaching experience? Most negative?
- How have you communicated student progress to parents?
- How have you used (or would you use) aides or parent volunteers in your classroom?
- What activities will you sponsor if you are hired for this position?
- What do you know about our school district? What do you know about our community?
- Why should our district hire you?
SUBJECT AREA AND GRADE LEVEL QUESTIONS
- How have you emphasized the development of basic skills (advanced skills)?
- Describe a critical issue in your subject area.
- Why is your field important for a student to study?
- Describe an ideal curriculum in your area of study.
- What should students have gained from having taken your course?
- What do you feel is your strongest subject (or teaching) area? What subject is most difficult for you?
TEACHING TECHNIQUE QUESTIONS
- What principles do you use to motivate students?
- Describe effective teaching techniques that result in intended learning.
- Define cooperative learning and give an example of how you have used it.
- How would you individualize instruction to meet the needs of all your students?
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION QUESTIONS
- What is your philosophy of education?
- What is the role of the teacher in the classroom?
- What is the role of the principal?
- What is the role of a teacher鈥檚 aide in the classroom?
- How would you use parents in the classroom?
- What do you consider an ideal class size?
- What is the most important issue facing the field of education today?
- What is the most exciting thing happening in your field of study?
- What should schools do for students?
- What is the toughest aspect of teaching today?
- What is the role of homework?
- What is your system for evaluating student work?
- What would be the ideal philosophy of a school for you?
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION QUESTIONS
- How would your students describe you?
- How would your colleagues describe you?
- How would your last principal describe you?
- How would you appraise your teaching performance? How do you determine if your students are learning?
- What forms of assessment do you use? Do you grade on ability or effort?
- How do you feel about observations by supervisors?
- How do you communicate with parents about a student鈥檚 progress?
CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION/LESSON PLANNING QUESTIONS
- What is your educational preparation?
- Describe the physical appearance of your classroom.
- Describe independent study projects your students have completed.
- How do you structure your class to achieve maximum benefit from student/teacher contact?
- Describe the format you use to develop a lesson.
- How do you handle the different ability levels of students in classes?
- How do you handle different ability levels of students? Different cultures? The gifted? Educationally or economically underprivileged? Limited English-speaking?
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS
- What have you found to be the toughest aspect of discipline?
- Describe your most difficult student discipline situation and how you handled it.
- Explain the structure of your discipline plan. What rules do you establish in your classroom?
- What rules have you established for your classroom?
- How would you handle cheating?
- How would you handle a student who is a consistent behavioral problem in your class?
- How would you handle a student sleeping in your class?
- What would you do if a student has been absent from your class for several days?
- If a student were to tell you they have engaged in some illegal or immoral activity, what would you do?
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES/KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS
- What professional development topics interest you the most?
- What professional organizations do you belong to or would you like to join?
- How have you recently improved your professional skills? What are your plans for future education/skill development?
