What Do You Like Best About Teaching?

Interviewers want to know about your philosophy.  They want to know if you have a solid philosophy or whether you've just developed your philosophy in the last 24 hours or so.  Your philosophy reveals a lot about who you are as a teacher; it also gives an interviewer solid information about where you stand on critical issues.  Here's a typical query:

 

     What do you like best about teaching?  What do you like least?

     A:   For me, teaching is an incredibly rewarding career!  It offers unlimited possibilities to influence generations of students, imparting to them the excitement of learning, the passion of discovery, and the magic of an inquisitive mind.  I believe that teaching is both a science and an art.  It is also a way of making a difference in the lives of others.  It is the shaping of minds and the shaping of futures.                       

            What I like least would probably be the fact that I have a limited amount of time to work with my students.  I have only 180 school days and seven-and-a-half hours in each of those days to share with them all the wonderful things they can learn.  While I can’t change the time I have available, I can change students’ lives.  I can’t think of anything more exciting.

 Don’t select controversial topics for your response.  You won’t know where the interviewer stands on those topics and you don’t want to upset her or him.  Select topics that are non-controversial or non-confrontational.

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Your Special Skills

A teacher interview offers you a wonderful opportunity to highlight skills and talents that may not be evident on your resume.  Here's a question often asked near the end of an interview - a chance for you to highlight your unique talents.

      What special skills or talents will you bring to your classroom?

     A:   I’ve always been interested in theatre.  I was in a number of plays in college and served as a youth director for a production at a local repertory company in town.  I’ve read some books about readers theatre and how valuable it can be as a language arts activity.  I’ve learned how it can help kids become more fluent readers and would like to make it part of my language arts curriculum.  From what I’ve read I think it can be a positive addition to the classroom curriculum and a way to get kids more actively engaged in their own learning.

With this question the interviewer is providing you with an opportunity to demonstrate how well-rounded you are.  Don’t blow this wonderful chance to let your personality and talents show through.  As in all your responses, select examples that can have a connection to what goes on in a classroom or to specific elements of the overall curriculum.  Let your talents and skills shine, but don’t go overboard.