Section 11 - Teaching Interviews Presentation

Transcription

1 Section 11 - Teaching Interviews Presentation This presentation will look at how you can best prepare yourself for a teaching interview and what you can expect. You might feel uneasy about interviews but they are not set up to see you fail. Remember that you ve already achieved much by being invited to interview from what were probably dozens of hopeful applications. Interviews exist so that the employer can judge your attributes and skills against the perceived requirements of the job and a person specification. While they are intent on making what they hope is the best match between applicants and what they require, an interview is also an opportunity for you to gauge whether you really want the job. Can you see yourself working in this school? Is the school ethos in tune with your personal philosophy of education? What would be your particular responsibilities, etc? Examine carefully your reaction to the school environment and your motivations for going for this particular job: could you visualise yourself being happy there? Do your potential employers seem supportive, and will they be concerned with helping you to develop as a teacher? Often feeling tentative about a job offer reveals some potentially serious reservations when properly interrogated. Take time to think it through if you need to - but ideally as far as possible, do this before going to interview.

2 For a teaching post, a panel of interviewers will usually include: Representatives from the school governors - including possibly/probably a parent governor The Head of School and possibly/probably another current staff member A current school pupil In all it is common for you to be facing approximately six or so people; that may sound daunting but remember that their own interview experience may be very limited which may mean they feel almost as nervous as you! In addition to relating your interview to the person specification that should have formed part of the application pack, your interviewers will also be considering the points listed on the slide above. So, do your research on both the area and the school. The panel is likely to want to know why you have chosen to apply for their school in particular, and you need to be ready to answer this; also, you should of course refresh your memory by rereading any job information and your application a couple of times prior to the interview itself.

3 It s impossible to know exactly what questions are going to be asked, but Teachernet (web address on slide 3) suggest that the following list of themes can act as a rough guide: Personality and character traits that suit the ethos of the school. The set of educational standards relevant to the particular country. Key issues facing the school; its strengths and development needs ( do your homework check out reports, the local paper, the school s website and development plan if available, the governor s annual report to parents, exam reports, league tables where available, the school prospectus and so on). Your impressions of the school following a preliminary visit (if at all possible arrange a visit to the school to look around before the interview date). Your professional strengths and perceived training and development needs. Your (transferable) skills and achievements, gained in your training and outside. The current controversial topics and priority areas in education; the latest relevant legislation. (continued on following slide)

4 Further topics for questions may include: Your subject knowledge (if applicable). Any additional subjects you can teach and the extent of your knowledge. Your responses to particular scenarios: how you would deal with certain hypothetical situations. What attracted you to the profession? What attracted you to this particular job (again, it is worth emphasising how important it is to research the school beforehand). Your hobbies and outside interests. You career motivations and aspirations. Your work ethic. If you can use examples from your experience of the course both at university and on class placements you are likely to make a stronger, more convincing point when answering questions. Similarly, you can draw on your interests, committee and voluntary work outside your course to provide examples illustrating your qualities and commitment. If you are unsure as how to answer a question, don t be afraid to take a few moments to consider it, and perhaps to rephrase it back to the panel. This makes them aware of how you have interpreted it without going overboard with long silences and complicated restatements of course! If you are really unsure, ask them to repeat and/or clarify the question. Hopefully this won t be necessary. In most cases the interview questions are clearly phrased and have been decided on in advance.

5 It is typical with teaching posts for a decision to be reached that day and for you all to be invited to wait after your interview so that the successful candidate can be offered the job there and then! If you are offered the job but you are not entirely sure that you want it, you can ask for thinking time - but it is unusual and schools normally expect a prospective member of staff to know whether they want to work there by then - which is why it really is a good idea to look around the school prior to interview! If you aren t offered the job and you really wanted it, naturally you are going to feel disappointed. The fact that you got to interview demonstrates that you were of a similar calibre to the other candidates and that it was probably a difficult, perhaps even split decision for the panel. Try not to let it undermine your self-esteem and if you can try and see the interview as something to learn from. As with most things, you get better at handling interviews the more practice you have (although beware excessive rehearsal and scripting of possible responses this might make your performance too stagy and not spontaneous and enthusiastic enough). Remember: good research and preparation will always stand you in good stead, as we said above, you probably only missed this particular job by a whisker. One colleague we know missed out on a post because they felt a man would suit it better - not something

6 she could do anything about and very non-pc; however, she so impressed one panel member that they invited her to apply for another post they were involved with at another school - a job she subsequently got! Ask for feedback sometimes this is offered anyway, but, if not, why not take the initiative? This is a further opportunity to impress and, who knows, you may then be remembered when other posts come up and be invited to apply for those. Good luck. For more advice and guidance on becoming a new teacher, have a look at the Teacher Development Agency (TDA). You can find the website at they will also point the way to the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR), which is a source of relevant information for teachers. The Newly Qualified Teachers Handbook by Elizabeth Holmes (Routledge Falmer) is another source of information for those just staring out in their careers.