Questions About Teaching to Help You Prepare for a Winning Interview

You can use the following general questions about teaching to prepare for your next interview:

• How would you describe yourself as a teacher?
• As a teacher, what makes you different?
• Why are you leaving your current teaching job?
• Tell me about your chief strengths as an educator.
• Describe your biggest weakness as a teacher.
• What are your long-term goals in the teaching profession?
• Tell me about your short-term goals as a teacher.
• What made you apply with our school district?
• When can you start at our school?
• Are you willing to move to one of our other schools?

Learn more: Thank-You Email Subject Line for After an Interview 

The following questions will present you with an opportunity to highlight your teaching experience and background. Reflecting on them beforehand will ensure you capture the very best of your career in education:

• Tell me about your experience as a teacher.
• Have you taught children with any special needs?
• Is there a student segment you prefer teaching? Please describe your answer.
• Describe an experience that made you proud of being a teacher.
• Is technology an essential part of your teaching tool kit? Please explain your answer.
• Tell me about your teaching philosophy.
• What makes you an effective maths teacher?
• Why do you want to teach at this educational level?
• Tell me about your experience in using technology in the classroom.
• What is the best lesson you learned from your college experience?
• Describe your experience in working with other teaching professionals and managerial staff.
• What is your strategy for handling conflicts with your colleagues and supervisors?
• Describe a teaching experience in which you went above and beyond.
• What makes you an effective history teacher?
• Tell me about why you teach [your subject]?
• In your opinion, what characteristics do most students want in their teachers? Please explain your answer.
• Classroom management skills are essential for this position. Tell me about your educational and industry experience in this area.
• Tell me about your experience in integrating the Common Core standards, state standards, or local standards into your curriculum.

Discover real interview questions asked for thousands of job titles

You can use the following in-depth questions about teaching to improve your interview performance:

• Tell me about an experience in which you handled a difficult student in an efficacious way.
• Do you prefer a structured or unstructured teaching philosophy? Please explain your answer.
• A student is regularly disruptive in your classroom. How do you handle this?
• What do you think you can contribute to our school?
• Do you think it’s easier to teach well-rounded students? Please explain your answer.
• Tell me about what frustrates you as a teacher.
• Teaching can be frustrating. Do you have a strategy for dealing with job-based frustration? Please explain your answer.
• On the first day of school, what is your plan for telling students about classroom rules?
• Why do we teach [your subject] in school?
• Tell me about your strategy for evaluating students.
• Describe your experience in helping children with identified disabilities.
• Tell me about your experience in working with students with unidentified disabilities.
• Do you think approachability is an important quality in a teacher? Please explain your answer.
• How would you flip a classroom?
• Is there a relationship between school and social justice? Please explain your answer.
• Describe your experience with blended learning.
• Tell me about your eLearning experience.
• One of your students performs well during in-class activities, but does poorly in tests. How would you handle this?
• Tell me about your personality traits that improve your effectiveness as a teacher.
• Managing a classroom is essential. What is your disciplinary approach? Please explain your answer.
• Tell me about your soft skills that make you an effective educator.

Learn more: Answering ‘How Do You Handle Stress?’ in an Interview

You can use the following questions and answers to boost your interview preparation:

Why do you want to be a teacher?

An employer uses this standard interview question to gauge a candidate’s dedication to the teaching profession. An ideal teaching candidate will clearly articulate their reasons or professional mission for choosing to be an educator. A candidate’s answer should include:

• Strong communication skills
• Values that complement the interests and positions of the employer
• Evidence of a strong commitment to the teaching profession

An example answer to this question could look like this:

Example answer: I want to be a teacher because I enjoy being a part of educating others. I believe social progress and social justice can are enhanced and guided through how we teach young people and what we teach them. 

How much information do you think a teacher should have about their students?

An employer wants to know your teaching philosophy and evaluate if it aligns with the educational institution. An ideal teacher applicant would provide a reasonable answer with an approach that complements the employer. A candidate’s answer should include:

• Understanding of different teaching approaches in relation to collecting student information
• Experience in gathering and handling student information effectively
• Evidence of a complementary teaching philosophy

An example answer to this question can look like this:

Example answer: In my seven years of experience as a teacher, I have worked for employers who valued learning about students and those who avoided student information that did not directly affect a child’s education. I think it’s imperative to know the student to improve their learning process. I try to learn about what motivates my students, the challenges they face, and their learning styles because experience has taught me how these factors impact their ability to learn, get good grades, and affect their peers. 

Learn more: How to Improve Your Nonverbal Communication Skills

Do you have a plan for getting your classroom ready for the first day of school? Please explain your answer.

Teachers should build classroom environments that nurture students and promote learning. An ideal candidate has a thoughtful and methodical strategy for developing a suitable setting on the first day of school. A candidate’s answer should include:

• Understanding of the importance of how the classroom looks and feels to students
• Evidence of the ability to create an appropriate setting for learning
• Strategy that uses welcoming materials effectively

An example answer to this question can look like this:

Example answer: Yes, I have a plan! The first impression my students form on their first day decides how they feel about my class for the entire semester, so I put in a lot of effort to make my classroom as welcoming, interesting, and engaging as possible. I use a welcoming sign, colorful posters that relate to the highlights of the curriculum, visual aids, and graphics of characters from classic books for kids to interest and engage my students. 

To make finding their places in a new classroom easy, I also use labeled desks. Rules are essential to control my class, so I have a list of class rules displayed prominently. Additionally, I develop an interactive lesson through which the kids learn what the rules are on their first day. 

Learn more: The Ultimate Job Interview Preparation Guide

Tell me about any recent experience you have had with an inverted classroom.

An inverted classroom is a teaching model that involves reinventing the idea of sending certain droll classroom components (such as delivering lectures) home with the student to do alone and undistracted. Classroom time then is used to engage students in discussion and activity to help them use what they learned on their own. An ideal teacher candidate will show their knowledge and application of this framework. A candidate’s answer should include:

• Knowledge of flipping a classroom
• Experience in using this approach
• Evidence of using an inverted classroom successfully

An example answer to this question can look like this:

Example answer: I’ve used an inverted or flipped classroom, which introduces the course materials outside the class and uses in-class time to help students apply what they learned and assess their understanding successfully in my last job. Flipping the classroom enabled me to meet the needs of individual students better than the traditional model of using the classroom for lectures and homework for application. This is because an inverted classroom enabled me to identify students who were having problems with understanding the lesson, solve learning issues, and improve test scores for my students by an average of 15% last semester. 

When you familiarize yourself with these standard questions about teaching, you can use the example answers to develop your own and to start learning about a few potential employers. Discover companies.