Primary Teacher Interview Questions And Answers: Applying for a teaching job requires drafting your resume to capture the attention of the hiring manager. A well-drafted resume will most likely lead you to the next phase of getting the job, this phase is usually the interview phase.
However, as someone looking forward to securing a primary school teacher role, it is essential to prepare for the interview questions. Primary teachers are experts who teach pupils various subjects to help students become better.
Hence, preparation is the key to getting hired through an interview session. Therefore, in this article, we have listed out some primary teacher interview questions and answers to help you prepare for your next interview.
20 Primary Teacher Interview Questions And Answers
Below are 20 primary teacher interview questions and answers:
#1. What Personality Traits Should You Have As a Teacher?
This question is asking if you have some personal traits that can help provide better teaching services to the students. To answer this question, ensure you remain honest and express yourself in the best ways you can.
Suggested answer: as a teacher, with my experiences, I am patient with tough kids. I am empathetic, polite, compassionate, and kind. For years, I have always tried to understand the needs of my students by equipping them with academic and emotional intelligence.
#2. What Would You Do If You Found Out That One Of Your Students Is Being Bullied/Abused?
No school would consider hiring a teacher who looks the other way when their student is being abused or bullied. Therefore, you should provide practical answers that would reassure the hiring manager that you are a responsible teacher.
Suggested answer: with my years of experience, I have handled a few cases of child abuse. Some of these abuses usually come from parents, family, relatives, or classmates. My first step is always to support the child and encourage them to speak up, then confirm the report. Finally, I always inform the school authorities or go the legal way to help support the child further.
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#3. What Are Your Takes On Extracurricular Activities?
The hiring manager wants to know if you consider extracurricular activities important. You can answer by stating a few important of why students should engage in extracurricular activities.
Suggested answer: extracurricular activities are crucial elements that will help the students in the long run. With the help of extracurricular activities, student’s relationship skills will be enhanced, and this will also help build their confidence.
#4. What Is Your Teaching Philosophy?
Most interviewers ask about teaching philosophy because they want to know how you plan on delivering lessons to the students. To answer, you have to provide some of your best techniques.
Suggested answers: for the past four years of my career, I have always created a classroom that carries everyone along, knowing that some students do not learn as fast as others. I use techniques such as student behavioral management, group discussions, exercises, colorful PowerPoint slides, and class participation.
#5. What Are Your Best Classroom Experiences As a Teacher?
This is a question that requires providing one or some of your best experiences as a teacher. Your answer can come from any of your classroom memory you consider significant.
Suggested answer: I remember back in 2022, one of my students was asthmatic, and he forgot his inhaler at home. Luckily, I could provide some of the first-aid treatments I know for asthmatic persons, and he could recover. The next day, he wrote a beautiful letter that made me feel proud of being a teacher.
#6. How Much Do You Want To Know About Your Students?
The best way to answer this question is to remain honest about why you believe a teacher-student relationship is important to you.
Suggested Answer: I want to know more about my students, including when they are having a difficult moment. This has helped me in the past to gain their trust and be there for them in times when they need someone.
#7. What Is Your View On Technology? Are They Beneficial In The Classroom?
Technology cannot be blindsided in this present age and time. Ensure you provide your views on technology (the good side and the downside). However, ensure you state reasons why they will help you achieve your classroom goals.
Suggested Answers: for a long time, I have considered technology as a special tool that helps to improve lesson plans. In my view, students tend to be more attentive when I use technology for classwork and homework.
#8. What Working Experience Do You Have With Students With Disabilities?
Most hiring manager wants to know if you can handle a situation whereby you will have to teach a student with a disability and what experiences you have in that regard.
Suggested Answer: in my years of teaching, I have taught several students, as well as special students. I tend to carry them along through behavioral management and ensure that other students engage with them as well.
#9. What Do You Do To Assess Students’ Progress?
With this question, The hiring manager wants to know how you assess the progress of your students in the classroom. You can provide techniques you will use to ensure academic excellence for students.
Suggested Answers: I plan to utilize group projects, oral reports, classwork, quizzes, and timely homework to discover students who are falling behind and help them get better.
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#10. What Steps Do You Take To Assess Your Student’s Understanding Of a Lesson?
Interviewers often ask this question to gain insight into how you assess your student’s understanding of a lesson and the methods you use to ensure they understand.
Suggested Answer: I utilize various means to ensure that my students understand my lessons. In a scenario where my students are finding it difficult to understand a lesson, I repeat the lesson with another learning approach.
#11. What Are Your Views About Walk-Throughs And Classroom Observations?
To answer this question, ensure you do not give iffy answers or answers that suggest privacy. However, ensure your answers are positive with the hopes of getting observed by others.
Suggested Answer: I have always looked forward to being observed by others. I want others to see and acknowledge my classroom activities with students.
#12. How Do You Handle Discipline In The Classroom?
Knowing how students are, interviewers ask this question to evaluate your approach towards discipline in the classroom and how you manage them.
Suggested answer: I do not believe in aggressive discipline. However, I know there are various means to discipline students with behavioral issues. I ensure that students understand the rules of my classroom accomplished with its punishments. The punishment attached is usually a suspension of certain privileges that will not affect their academics but ensure they behave well,
#13. How Do You Handle Teacher-Parent Relationships?
This question asks the interviewee how they maintain parent-teacher relationships. As a teacher, it is vital that you maintain a positive relationship with the parents of your students.
Suggested Answer: I ensure that my student’s parents get timely reports on the progress of their kids through emails and phone calls. This has always helped me to create well-drafted lesson plans for my students.
#14. What Approach Do You Take To Prepare Students For Standardized Or External Exams?
The success of each student is the pride of the teacher and the school. With this question, the interviewer wants to know how you prepare students for external exams.
Suggested Answers: I recognized that during the last days of exams, students are usually tense, and this affects their performances. Therefore, I ensure my students prepare for exams through classwork, homework, school exams, etc. This helps them to stay focused and prepared without having thoughts of failing the exam.
#15. How Will You Handle a Weak Student?
The interviewer wants to evaluate how you will help a weak student to become better academically. You can also give reasons why most students are weak and how to help them improve their academics.
Suggested answers: I know that not every student comprehends faster. However, my first step is to identify the weak students with class work and homework. Then, I try to understand why they are performing poorly. If it is due to family issues or peer pressure. I motivate them by engaging them in class activities that will help them stay focused.
#16. How Would You Consider Your Ideal School?
From this question, the hiring manager wants to know if you are comfortable working in a school environment like theirs. To answer, you can provide a list of what should be included in a school.
Suggested answer: my ideal school would be a school that has the right equipment, supplies, and materials that will help students assimilate faster and one they would be comfortable in.
#17. Who Is To Blame When a Student Does Not Perform Well In Class?
When the interviewer asks about who should be responsible for the failure of a student, you shouldn’t make the mistake of mentioning names. However, the answer will not directly blame anyone.
Suggested Answer: my student’s performances are largely my responsibility and I ensure they produce their best in class. However, the performance of a student can be affected by external factors. In that type of scenario, I look for the causes and provide solutions.
#18. What Can You Offer The School/Students?
To answer this question, it is crucial that you do relevant research about the school regarding what they might be lacking.
Suggested answer: I believe my skills and teaching abilities will help the students get better scores in the coming national exams. From my observation, this school could not compete in the children’s national mathematics exam. I hope to prepare the students for this exam. Given my records, I have coached over 30 students for the exam and 15 out of these students have won different prizes.
#19. How Will You Get Your Classroom Ready During Your First Class Meeting?
This question is asking about how you will approach your student during your first encounter, how prepared you are, and what you plan to do.
Suggested Answer: I have always believed in first impressions. Therefore, I will create a hospitable environment that will help the students to stay relaxed. Then, we will introduce ourselves. I will also list the rules to be followed to create a better teaching environment.
#20. What Can You Tell Me About Yourself?
This is usually the first question to be asked by the interviewer. To answer this question, you have to provide relevant details about yourself, your qualifications, educational background, work experience, and other relevant information.
Suggested answer: I have been a primary school teacher for the past five years and I have been recognized as the teacher of the year in 2022. I have the skills, abilities, and mental health required for this position. More so, I always put my students first, and I ensure that their parents get constant reports on their children’s performances. So, I get satisfied only when my students do well academically and emotionally. I communicate with students to help me understand how to teach them better.
Conclusion on Primary Teacher Interview Questions And Answers
As stated earlier, preparation is the key to securing a teaching job. Interview questions are designed to help the interviewer select the best candidate and it is an opportunity to market yourself to the hiring manager. This article has featured 20 Primary teacher interview questions and answers to help you prepare for your next interview.
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