Interviewing
This is more-or-less a recount of my interview, so it isn’t going to be the same for every interview! Just thought I’d share an account (and all the questions I can remember).
The first thing that happened is I was given a clipboard so I could write some responses to prompts. The guy next to me said he’d never done that before, so I don’t know this is common. The first page simply asked why I think I would be good for the school, and what talents I could bring to the school.
The second page had several prompts, and I was giving lined paper to write an essay response. The prompts were mostly geared towards core teachers- they discussed things like preparing for standardized tests. I picked the one that most applied to art- the prompt was that you just started teaching at a school and the students aren’t listening and they’re all falling behind and failing. I talked a lot about different classroom management techniques I might employ.
After my written prompt, I was called in to the interview room. There were three people, instead of one, like I expected. So be prepared for a panel, because that might happen with you as well.Here are some of the questions I was asked:
Tell us about yourself.
What does “at risk” mean to you?
What are some reasons someone might “burnout”?
Say you’re doing a great job, lessons are going very very well, students are responding well, other teachers are telling you how much your lessons are helping the students’ overall performance, but your principal comes up to you and tells you you need to strictly stick to the curriculum. What do you do? (My initial response was that I could work with the curriculum and combine it with my lessons. Question was presented again saying that you cannot alter the given curriculum in any way.)
Can students learn from a teacher they don’t like or enjoy? After I answered this, they asked: Can you teach a student you don’t like or enjoy.
What do you do about discipline problems (especially considering that you will not have another person in the room to support you)?
What’s an educational concept that is important to you? How will you employ that concept?
This is all I remember but I’ll post more if I think about them!
At the end you’ll be asked if you have any questions for them. Depending on what has already been discussed, you should ask:
What they’re looking for in an art teacher? (I meant this more literally like “Am I expected to drive the bus for field trips?” but they answered more figuratively which is fine.)
What are the facilities like? Is there an art room? (Basically.... will I NOT be on a cart?)
What are the supplies like? Was there a previous art teacher? Will there be a stipend?
What is scheduling like?
You do not want to say “I don’t have any questions” or “Not really”. I couldn’t do anything with the info on scheduling but it makes you seem like you know what you’re looking for and you’re not just gonna go for anything and you’re prepared.
