Your Professional Goals

Are you a planner?  Do you have goals for the future?  How will you improve as a teacher?  These are all questions in the mind of any interviewer.  Not only are you being hired for your teaching expertise; so too, are you being hired for what you might contribute to the school down the line.  principals want to know if you're in it "for the long haul."  As a result, you can expect a question just like this one:

     What are your professional goals for the next five years?

     A:   First, I want to attend graduate school and get my masters in Curriculum and Instruction.  Beyond that I would like to continue to take graduate courses and in-service courses so that I can stay current in the field.  Second, I would like to attend a number of regional and national conferences so that I can connect with other middle school teachers in addition to staying up-to-date on the latest strategies and techniques for teaching at the middle school level.  Third, I would like to contribute to some professional magazine and journals.  One of my college professors helped me prepare a paper for submission to a student publication and I guess the writing bug really bit me as a result.  I’d like to write some articles and share my ideas and thoughts on teaching social studies.

Have a plan of action – if you don’t, the position will probably be offered to someone else.  Make sure that your plan includes a focus on the school’s needs.  Don’t say that you want a graduate degree because you’ll make more money; rather say that you want to attend grad school in order to stay current and make more of a contribution to the school.