Be Ready for These
Teacher Interview Questions

Teacher interview questions will include those challenging interview questions that explore:

• your instructional and lesson planning skills
• the teaching techniques you use in the classroom

Use the interview answer help to be ready with winning answers that impress the interviewers.

7 teacher interview questions you should be well prepared for

Describe your teaching style

In your answer show a clear understanding of your own basic teaching style.

However you should be able to adopt a number of teaching styles that are appropriate for different learning situations.

Highlight how you are able to adapt your style to the needs of the students. For example:

"I adopt a facilitator type style that emphasizes student-centered learning with students who are comfortable with independent learning"

You can support your answer with references to the phrases and words students and colleagues have used to describe you as a teacher.

Describe one of  the most successful lessons you have taught in a class. Explain why it worked so well.

Provide a specific example of a lesson that worked really well. Focus on:

• how you reflected back on the lesson to determine what the strengths of the lesson were
• how you utilized this information in future lesson plans

Planning lessons is a fundamental skill that all teachers must master. Expect teacher interview questions that explore this skill. By emphasizing that you are constantly analyzing your lessons for strengths and weaknesses you highlight how hard you work at developing this skill.

How do you evaluate your teaching?

What strategies do you use to encourage group work with your students?

In your answer to hard teacher interview questions like this it is important to demonstrate that you understand what the advantages of group work are including:

• encouraging cooperation among students
• facilitating the cross-pollination of ideas and information

and what the disadvantages are:

• social loafing
• domination by certain personality types

Discuss when group work is appropriate to a learning situation and when it won't work.

What do you do if a lesson doesn't work well?

Things don't always go according to plan. Give a specific example of a lesson that didn't go well and what you did about it. Focus on how you analyzed what went wrong and identified the weaknesses with the lesson.

Describe how you went about improving the lesson by various means such as:

• changing the complexity level of the content
• using available resources
• asking for advice from other teachers
• reviewing your classroom management techniques

It is important to acknowledge that failures do happen and indicate that you have the insight and maturity to deal with them.

How do you manage classroom discipline?

Tell me how you develop your daily lesson plan and what do you include?

Take a couple of lesson plans with you in your teacher portfolio and use these as the basis for your explanation.

Discuss:

• how you determined the lesson objectives
• the conditions under which the objectives would have to be accomplished
• what materials and resources would be needed
• the lesson procedure
• assessment and evaluation

How do you plan when starting a new study unit or topic with your class?

Your teacher interview answer should demonstrate your skills with regard to :

• planning and utilizing resources
• organizing
• implementation
• monitoring and evaluation

Include your ability to consider the different ability levels of the student group when setting your learning objectives and developing lesson plans.

Again refer to a specific example to give structure to your answer.

What learning materials do you use?

What do you consider to be the physical appearance of an ideal classroom?

Describe the physical layout of the classroom including seating, the use of resources and materials. Explain why the set up is considered ideal in terms of learner needs.

You can present floor plans and layout designs that have been successfully used previously and pictures of your old classrooms. This shows strong organization skills.

The classroom you describe will also reflect your teaching style and philosophy so make sure it is compatible with the needs of the teacher position you are interviewing for.

You need to consider:

• the students you will have in your classroom
• the topics you will be teaching
• the technology and physical requirements that will make the learning environment as efficient as possible

How do I prepare for a teacher interview?

Go to the other examples of frequently asked teacher interview questions. The practical answer guidelines provided will help you come across as a professional and confident teaching candidate.

Be ready for these hard teacher interview questions

Teacher interview questions about your classroom management

Questions that explore your personal motivation to teach.

Questions to ask in your teacher interview

Make sure you have prepared a list of good questions to ask in the interview. Use the samples provided at teaching interview questions to ask to help you with this.

How to follow up after your teaching interview

What should you do after your teaching interview? Find out about teacher interview follow up

Teacher job applications

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