Below is a list of six commonly asked teacher interview questions for teachers and answers

from my eBook, Guide to Getting the Teaching Job of Your Dreams. How would you answer
each question?

1. Interview Questions for Teachers: Tell us about yourself.

This will be among the first common teacher interview questions at almost every in-person. Just
give a brief background in about three sentences. Tell them what colleges you graduated from,
what you're certified to teach, what your teaching & working experiences are, and why you'd
love the job.

2. How do you teach to the state standards?

If you interview in the United States, school administrators love to talk about state, local, or
national standards! Reassure your interviewer that everything you do ties into standards. Be sure
the lesson plans in your portfolio have the state standards typed right on them. When they ask
about them, pull out your lesson and show them the close ties between your teaching and the
standards.

3. How will you prepare students for standardized

assessments?
There are standardized assessments at almost every grade level. Be sure you know the names of
the tests. Talk about your experiences preparing students. You'll get bonus points if you know
and describe the format of the test because that will prove your familiarity.

4. Describe your discipline philosophy.

You use lots of positive reinforcement. You are firm, but you don't yell. You have appropriate
consequences for inappropriate behavior. You have your classroom rules posted clearly on the
walls. You set common routines that students follow. You adhere to the school's discipline
guidelines. Also, emphasize that you suspect discipline problems will be minimal because your
lessons are very interesting and engaging to students. Don't tell the interviewer that you send
kids to the principal's office whenever there is a problem. You should be able to handle most
discipline problems on your own. Only students who have committed very serious behavior
problems should be sent to the office.

5. How do you make sure you meet the needs of a student with
an IEP?
An IEP is an "individualized education plan." Students with special needs will be given an IEP,
or a list of things that you must do when teaching the child. An IEP might include anything from

"additional time for testing" to "needs all test questions read aloud" to "needs to use braille
textbook." How do you ensure you're meeting the needs of a student with an IEP? First, read the
IEP carefully. If you have questions, consult a special education teacher, counselor, or other staff
member who can help you. Then, you just make sure you follow the requirements on the IEP
word for word. When necessary, you may be asked to attend a meeting in which you can make
suggestions for updating the IEP. Your goal, and the goal of the IEP, is to make sure the student
has whatever he or she needs to be successful in your class.

6. How do you communicate with parents?

This question will come up at almost every elementary school interview. Its fairly common in
the middle school and high school as well. You might have a weekly parent newsletter that you
send home each week. For grades 3 and up, you may require students to have an assignment
book that has to be signed each night. This way, parents know what assignments are given and
when projects are due. When there are discipline problems you call home and talk to parents. It's
important to have an open-door policy and invite parents to share their concerns at any time.
General teacher interview questions and answers
1.

What are three characteristics you believe every teacher should have?

2.

Whats one thing you believe every teacher should avoid?

3.

There are hundreds of candidates for this position: Why should I choose you?

Questions about yourself and your personal experiences

4.

Who are some of your own favorite teachers?

5.

What are your favorite memories of being a student?

6.

What is one good thing you remember a teacher doing for you?

7.

What is one negative thing you remember a teacher doing that didnt help you?

8.

If you were your own teacher, how would you teach to you?

Questions about your education and experience

9.

Where did you go to school? What degrees have you earned?

10. Tell us about your current (or most recent) position.

11. Whats one experience youve had that has helped shape who you are as a teacher?
12. Were there any particular courses you took that you felt you especially gained from?

13. Describe the teaching or observation experiences you have had.

14. Were there any challenges you faced when trying to reach a particular student?
15. What were your personal most successful moments?
16. What was the nature of your relationships with your co-workers?
17. How long did you have your previous position and why are you looking to change it?
18. What methods of teaching were emphasized in your last position?
19. What were the most successful approaches to teaching you have witnessed or been a part of?
20. To what extent do you feel your previous education and experience has prepared you to do
this job well?
21. What experience do you have incorporating technology in the classroom?
Questions about your familiarity with research, writing, and trends
22. Who are some of your favorite authors?
23. Who are some of your favorite education authors or speakers?
24. Whats one research-based method that would help guide your teaching?
25. Whats one educational trend that would likely influence your teaching?
26. How do you like to incorporate technology in the classroom?
27. Who is one education author you disagree with?
28. What apps would you consider essential for your classroom?
29. What is your opinion on the Common Core?
30. What role should social media play in the classroom?
31. Are you interested in attending conferences and reading educational texts?
Questions about your personality and teaching style
32. What makes you want to be a teacher?
33. What are three adjectives that describe you?

34. How would you describe your teaching style?

35. How do you reach that one student who just seems to not get it?
36. What is a day in your classroom going to be like?
37. Whats one area of teaching that you feel you have improved in?
38. Whats one area of teaching that you feel is a true strength of yours?
39. Whats one area of teaching that you feel you need to improve in?
40. How would students describe you after having had you for a year?
41. If you could design and decorate your classroom any way you wanted, what would it look
like?
Questions about your comfort with classroom control and discipline
42. Whats one challenging situation youve been in with a student or students, and how did you
handle it?
43. What are the primary rules you expect your students to follow?
44. How would you handle a situation of plagiarism if it were to arise?
45. How would you communicate your expectations to students?
46. How would you respond if a student was acting disrespectfully to you?
47. How would you respond if a student were acting disrespectfully to others?
48. What would you do to stop or break up a fight that may occur?
49. At what point would you write up a student or send them down to the discipline office?
50. How do you reinforce good behavior?
51. Describe a successful moment when you intervened and helped improve a students behavior
in the classroom.
Questions about how you fit in with the school environment
52. Would you be willing to help coach or sponsor any sports or activities here?
53. What role would you like the administration to play in how or what you teach?

54. What resources would you need to help you be successful?

55. Are you open to having a mentor teacher partner with you?
56. Describe what kinds of co-workers you typically get along with.
57. What description would you hope a student would give of the adults in this school?
58. What kinds of above and beyond contributions would you be willing to make?
59. What do you believe you personally possess that you could contribute to the atmosphere and
well-being of our school?
60. Would you describe yourself as a team player?
61. What does collaboration mean to you?
Questions about your knowledge of laws and boundaries
62. Whats your comfort level with having one-on-one conferences with students?
63. To what extent do you feel interaction with students through social media is appropriate?
64. What would you do if a student began talking to you about personal issues they were facing?
65. What are some of the things about students that the law requires you to report to school
authorities?
Questions about how you interact with students
66. What do you think about the common advice for teachers to not smile until Christmas?
67. Describe what your academic expectations are for students.
68. How do you account for different modes of learning into your lesson design?
69. What role do assessments play in your teaching?
70. What do you want your former students to tell your future students about you?
Questions about how you interact with parents
71. How would you react to a parent calling and complaining about something in class?
72. How would you turn parents into partners?

73. What do you tell the parent who wants to have too much say in how to run your classroom?
74. Would you consider yourself a proactive or reactive communicator to parents?
75. When would you consider it appropriate to get in touch with parents?
Which is more important, teaching or learning? If you saw a fellow teacher out buying fruit in
the market with a sixth-form student, what would you do? How might the current political
climate affect your teaching?
When we asked readers what questions they'd been asked at job interviews, the responses we
received were testament to the variety of skills and responsibilities that teachers have. From
providing pastoral care to pedagogical expertise, working in a school is tough and so too is the
interview process.
To help you prepare, we've surveyed readers and headteachers to find out what questions crop up
during the recruitment process. You can browse our reader submissions by clicking here, or read
our headteachers' tips below:
If I walked into your classroom during an outstanding lesson, what would I see and hear?
"I'd like to hear about: animated discussions, students clearly making progress as evidenced in
oral and written contributions. High quality visual displays of students' work showing progress.
High levels of engagement. Behaviour that supports learning."
Helen Anthony, headteacher, Fortismere school
"After hearing a candidate's response I try to get them to talk about their experiences in the
classroom. I try to get a sense of the impact that they have had on pupils' achievement."
Tim Browse, headteacher, Hillcrest primary school
Why do we teach x in schools?
"This question really throws people. If it is maths or English they sometimes look back at you as
if you are mad. They assume it is obvious a very dangerous assumption and then completely
fail to justify the subject's existence.
"Whatever the subject, I expect to hear things like: to improve skills and independent learning; to
encourage team work; to gain a qualification; for enjoyment (very important, rarely mentioned);
to enhance other subjects; to develop literacy, numeracy and ICT skills; to improve career

prospects; self discipline; memory development; to encourage life-long learning in that subject.
The list goes on"
John Kendall, headteacher, Risca community comprehensive school
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?
"This allows candidates to give a theoretical answer one that anyone who swotted up could
give you balanced with a personal reflection that shows how effective they are."
Tim Browse, headteacher, Hillcrest primary school
If you overheard some colleagues talking about you, what would they say?
"This is one of my favourite questions (it's based on a question my National Professional
Qualification for Headship (NPQH) coach used to ask me) because it gets candidates to think
about their contribution to the school organisation and their team spirit. If I'm interviewing for a
senior leader I would follow this up with: what would you want them to say about you in three
years time? This way I can get a sense of where they want to develop as leaders."
Tim Browse, headteacher, Hillcrest primary school
Why do you want to work in special education?
"We're looking to see that the person genuinely recognises that we're in the business of education
as opposed to simply caring for the children (surprisingly, some applicants don't really see it that
way)."
Sean O'Sullivan, headteacher, Frank Wise school
Why do you want to work in this school?
"We want to see clear indications that candidates have done background work about our school
and can talk about why the way we work appeals to them. We'd always want candidates to have
visited the school so they should be able to flesh this out with specific examples of what they
thought based on their visit."
Sean O'Sullivan, headteacher, Frank Wise school
A question that is specific to the candidate's letter of application

"A candidate may have made a grand statement in their letter, but not gone into details about
'how' or the impact it had."
Tim Browse, headteacher, Hillcrest primary school
What are the key qualities and skills that students look for in teachers?
"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."
Helen Anthony, headteacher, Fortismere school
Evaluate your lesson
"Teaching a one-off lesson in an unfamiliar school with students you have never met before is a
difficult task, but a useful one for candidates and those making the appointment. The evaluation
of the lesson by the candidate is crucial. I need to see someone who can be self-critical but who
also recognises when things go well. Someone who makes suggestions as to how the lesson may
have gone better, what they would do differently with hindsight. I like to hear them talk of the
individual student's progress in the lesson, and how they would follow it up. Remembering
pupils' names is always impressive. I'd rather see an ambitious lesson that goes a bit awry than a
safe boring one."
John Kendall, headteacher, Risca community comprehensive school
If we decided not to appoint you, what would we be missing out on?
"This is great as it enables candidates to sell themselves and really tell us what they are about."
Brett Dye, headteacher, Parc Eglos school