Hypothetical and Situational Questions

          It seems reasonable to expect that you will get one or more situational or hypothetical questions during the course of an interview.  It’s important to remember that there are no absolutely perfect answers to these questions – there are differences of opinion, different philosophies, and different strategies used depending on experience and background.  In short, no two people will necessarily give the same answer to these queries.  What is more important is that, quite often, these kinds of questions are asked to gauge three things:

1. Your problem-solving abilities.  Every day teachers are faced with situations and events for which there are no easy answers and for which they may not have received training.  A student has an epileptic seizure in your classroom, a parent walks into your classroom swearing at you about his child’s report card, a student steals money from your purse – are all events that will test your problem-solving abilities…and your patience.  If you can solve problems quickly in an often stressful interview situation, then it is likely you will be able to solve them in a real-life classroom situation.
2. Your poise.  Do you get flustered when presented with a new situation?  Can you handle unexpected stress?  Do certain events raise your anxiety level?  Interviewers want to know how composed and how rational you will be in the often hectic and chaotic world of classroom teaching.  Can you maintain a calm, cool, and collected demeanor or will you “fly off the handle” at the slightest disruption to your classroom schedule or curriculum?
3. Your general views about sound educational practices.  Are you aware of some of the common ways of handling discipline or maintaining classroom order?  Do you know some of the “Best Practices” that differentiate the average teacher from the superior teacher?  Are you comfortable with the principles and practices of child or adolescent psychology and their application in a classroom environment?  While you may not be able to provide a perfect answer to a situational event (if there is such a thing as a perfect answer), you should, at least, be comfortable with current research, practices, and principles regarding human nature and child development to formulate an appropriate response.

Common Sense

      As I gather my research and write my book - Ace Your Teacher Interview - several people have told me, "You know, what you're writing is just plain common sense!"  And, they're right - it is common sense.  But, I'm also discovering that most of this "common sense" has never been gathered together into one source, one resource book, one all-inclusive reference guide.  I'm also learning from principals and administrators around the country that, in spite of all that common sense, prospective teachers are still making mistakes - big mistakes and little mistakes - mistakes sufficient to derail their chances at gaining employment.
     All of that was brought home recently when I interviewed an elementary principal.  I asked her if she had any memorable interview anecdotes.  She told me the following story:

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:      “There was one interview I’ll never forget.  A few years ago a young man – I’ll call him Jason - came into my office for his initial interview.  We exchanged a few pleasantries and then I asked him the first question: ‘Tell me a little about yourself.’  He paused for a few seconds and then reached into his briefcase and pulled out an elaborate hand puppet.  He slipped the puppet over his right hand and it was the hand puppet who ‘answered’ the question.  Using a falsetto voice, Jason manipulated the hand puppet – whom he had named ‘Bob’ - and had ‘Bob’ respond directly to me.  Slightly taken aback (I’d never had a puppet talk to me before), I decided to proceed.  So, I asked Jason to tell me why he wanted to be a teacher.  Again, it was ‘Bob’ who answered: “Well Jason wants to be a teacher because he really likes kids and he knows how to get their attention and he also….’  I was still a little stunned – and a little more than amazed - but decided to continue.  I asked about two or three additional questions and each time ‘Bob’ – in a very animated fashion - told me something about Jason.  Finally, after about ten minutes I could take it no longer.  I found a diplomatic way to end the interview, I escorted Jason (and ‘Bob’) back into the outer office, rolled my eyes at my secretary, and went back into my office to try and recover in time for the next interview.  To this day I still have nightmares about that damn puppet.”

     Here's wishing you lots of common sense.