8 Top Teacher Interview Questions Posted on 3 October 2017 by Rebecca Taylor - Kent-Teach Advisor in Career Wouldn’t it be helpful to know the kind of questions schools might ask during interviews? Well, to help you prepare for those dreaded and nerve racking interviews, we asked Headteachers some of the questions they use and here is what they said:1. Why did you apply for THIS post? ANSWER TIP: Response should include something special about the school.2. What do you understand by safeguarding & what is your role in it? ANSWER TIP: Response should include everything to be reported to designated person.3. How would you involve parents? ANSWER TIP: Response to include more than just mentioning parents evening.4. What is your experience of assessment & how do you use it? This could be 2 questions.ANSWER TIP: Response should include what system they use & how they use it to plan.5. What has been your most beneficial CPD in the past year and how have you used it to develop your practice? ANSWER TIP: Ensure you mention a clear example that’s improved your development.6. Tell us about something you are particularly proud of in your current post?ANSWER TIP: Mention how you’ve made a difference to the children’s learning.7. What would those who work with you say are your key strengths? Give me three.ANSWER TIP: Support your strengths with examples for each if you can.8. A favourite of our School Council questions for a candidate is: What would be on your bucket list?ANSWER TIP: Ensure your answer is appropriate and allow your personality to shine through. Here are a few more questions to consider:• What previous experiences can you bring and how it will benefit the role you’re applying for?• Tell me about a time that you worked well as part of a team? - Teamwork is a vital part of working within a school.• Tell me about a significant difference you’ve made, either to a child, your previous school for example?In addition to the above questions, we researched others and found an interesting article that highlighted more helpful questions to support you with your interview practice. Here are a few more useful ones from The Guardian’s article:1. If I walked into your classroom during an outstanding lesson, what would I see and hear?ANSWER TIP: Mention of animated discussions, students clearly making progress as evidenced in oral and written contributions, high-quality visual displays of student’s work showing progress, high levels of engagement and behaviour that supports learning.2. Can you tell me about a successful behaviour management strategy you have used in the past that helped engage a pupil or group of pupils? ANSWER TIP: This allows candidates to give a theoretical answer balanced with a personal reflection that shows how effective they are.3. What are the key qualities and skills that students look for in teachers? ANSWER TIP: Answer along the lines of: liking young people, fairness, consistency, sense of humour, passion for their subject, good at explaining new concepts/ideas, able to make the topic or subject relevant, able to make everyone feel comfortable and confident about contributing.4. If we decided not to appoint you, what would we be missing out on? ANSWER TIP: This gives candidates the opportunity to really sell themselves and highlight their skills and attributes that make them perfect for the role. Examples are good to support your answers. So there you have it! Hopefully the above will provide you with some help towards your future interviews. Here’s a personal tip of mine on how I prepare. I practice by creating an acronym and have each letter stand for each one of my skills I can bring to the job, with an example for all. During interviews, if my nerves get the better of me and my mind temporarily goes blank, I will remember my acronym which helps me snap out of it and respond with a well-evidenced answer; I recommend you try it.Sources:https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/jan/29/teacher-job-interview-questions-top-ten Have you read, ‘34 Crucial Tips For Your Next Job Interview’ – this may help you too.Happy job hunting!