Entry-Level Teachers: What To Expect During Your Interview

Job interviews for entry-level teachers function a bit differently from those in other professions. You're going to have to step up and demonstrate your competency from the get-go. Let's go through what you should expect so you're fully prepared.

Baptism by fire

My first year of teaching was a bumpy experience. Very bumpy. At the end of every school day I would go home worrying that I had put something inaccurate, or nonsensical, on the whiteboard for students to marvel at. And, of course, there was the difficult class, the one that simply would not do what I wanted. They were defiant and badly behaved, and they apparently enjoyed the deflating effect they were having on me.

But now, looking back, I realise that there has been a difficult class every year, and that I have put more than one bit of nonsense on the whiteboard in the course of my long career! The point is that in your first year of teaching you get problems like this out of proportion. It’s inevitable.

What you need to remember, though, is that a school employs you because it can see that you have what it takes to be a good teacher, namely resilience and determination. The school understands that getting to grips with the content of the curriculum takes times. Learning to control classes also takes time. The school just needs to know that you have the potential, and the determination, to get there.

Who is to blame?

So, at interview, you as a young teacher are likely to be presented with a scenario. Here is a good one. Suppose you have to teach a tricky class of 12-year-olds — 12-year-olds can be very tricky! — and one day your lesson completely fails. The children will not sit still, let alone listen to you, and you end the lesson feeling confused and rather miserable. The question your interviewers ask is: Who is to blame?

The “obvious” answer is that the 12-year-olds are to blame, but a better answer would be that you, the teacher, are to blame because you do not set clear boundaries, or you do not defuse situations before they get out of hand, or your teaching is not sufficiently challenging or engaging. You need to show the interviewer that becoming a good teacher is a lengthy process, and that you need to learn from your students what you get wrong, just as they learn from you what they get wrong. So the “good” answer is a failed lesson should prompt you to reflect on your mistakes, not your class’s mistakes, and get the advice of more experienced colleagues.

Red flags

So what are the red flags? As said above, your interviewers won’t be impressed if you give the impression that classroom management problems are solely the fault of the children. Instead, explain that you are the adult, and you are responsible for creating an atmosphere where problems are unlikely to arise. Talk about lessons from the children’s point of view. Children have shorter attention spans than adults, so the teacher needs to give them meaningful tasks. Also, children like routine because routine helps them feel secure, so the teacher needs to establish predictable patterns for lessons, which can be as simple as how work is handed in or given back, or more nuanced, such as the length of time given to different types of learning task.

In this way children learn to trust their teacher. The teacher makes decisions for them, and this helps create a calm and stress-free environment. Make sure, though, that you explain to interviewers that children must not only trust their teachers but respect them as well. Of course, respect is partly to do with evident knowledge of the subject. But it is also to do with standards. The teacher must set children an example of tolerance, patience and good humour. So when you are asked at interview why you want to be a science teacher, the wrong answer is because you loved science at university and want to carry on “doing” science. The right answer is that you want children to love science as much as you do, and that, as a teacher, you want to help them in this endeavour.

Equally, it is important to tell your interviewers that you recognise that children are complex human beings. They may be young, but they, like adults, have things they worry about, and things they are sensitive about, and things they find difficult or frustrating. It is the teacher’s job to work with and not against these complexities. Trying to understand why a child finds a topic difficult is important, just as it is important to understand what makes children behave badly. Sending a badly behaving child out of the classroom sometimes calms a difficult situation down, but often it does little more than put on a display of dominance, which comes across as adult insecurity.

What if you have concerns?

Make sure you explain to your interviewers that a teacher’s responsibilities do not end with the students. So it is important to realise that you are part of a team, namely your department, and that being a good team player involves sharing ideas and resources, and even concerns. Concerns? Yes: if you are concerned about your classes, let colleagues know, because they will have the right sort of experience to give you advice. Remember also that you have a responsibility to parents. Most obviously, at parents’ evenings you need to be frank about a child’s performance in the classroom. But even if the news is not good, saying a few nice things about a child goes a long way.

The demonstration lesson

You will almost certainly be asked to teach a demonstration lesson. Bear in mind that this will inevitably have a rather artificial feel, as you won’t know the children, and they won’t know you. Just try to teach in a friendly and relaxed manner. You will obviously want to plan the lesson carefully, and you will also want to show your observers that you have a range of teaching techniques up your sleeve. But don’t overdo it: too many varied activities confuse children. Instead, make sure that the lesson has a clear theme with a good introduction, a purposeful main activity or two, and a useful summing up of what has been achieved. Praise the children frequently and see that the praise is distributed over as many individuals as possible.

Ultimately, you have to like teaching..

And yes, there are ways of talking yourself out of an appointment! One is expressing a dislike of children. Any teacher will tell you that children can be demanding, but if you have an aversion to children on some fundamental level, you should not be applying for a job in a school. Equally, do not be negative about tutors or fellow student teachers on your college course, and do not make gloomy, quasi-political remarks about the “state” of education. Finally, do not give the impression that the perks of the job, such as generous holidays, are your principal reason for entering the profession.

Good luck at interview! Teaching is a wonderful career. It will be hard at times, especially in the early days, but the personal rewards are great. Persevere, be committed, and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have shaped young lives in a positive and meaningful way.