Interviews are always filled with a wide range of emotions. You appear for the interview with high hopes and dreams. Quite often, the fear factor is also high. Here’s a list of primary teacher interview questions and answers to help you out. We have discussed in detail about teacher interview questions and answers in one of our previous blogs. We have talked about usual questions like why do you want to be a teacher, why do you want to work for our school, etc in that blog, make sure to check it out. Read it here.
Being a primary teacher is no joke and ironically enough is not a child’s play. It takes a lot of effort and patience to be a primary school teacher. Not to mention the gravity of the responsibility laid upon you. You are laying the foundation and you can’t afford to go wrong. If you are passionate about being a primary teacher, here are the most common Primary Teacher Interview Questions and Answers to help you.
20 Primary Teacher Interview Questions and Answers
1.What do you think are the core values needed to be a primary teacher?
As mentioned above being a primary teacher is not a piece of cake. You are addressing young kids, full of energy and enthusiasm who have just started to learn. The interviewers would look for teachers who understand this major point. Apart from subject knowledge, the management would want teachers who can handle this kind of energy level. Ensure to frame your answer keeping this in mind.
How to answer: The core values required to become a teacher includes and are not limited to patience, compassion, and responsibility. As we are dealing with young kids who are in their prime age, it is important to listen to them. They can be difficult to handle and that’s why a teacher needs to be patient. Most of the kids wouldn’t know what they are doing, and therefore, it's important to be accountable and take responsibility for their actions.
2.What are the benefits of lesson planning?
It is important to have a plan and schedule to ensure that the learning is effective. The management will look for someone who is meticulous and on schedule. We have discussed in detail about lesson plans in one of our previous blogs, make sure to read it.
How to answer: Tell the interviewers that you value plans and schedules and hence think that lesson planning is of paramount importance. Lesson planning helps to create a vision and set goals and this will help in enhancing the effectiveness of teaching.
3. How would you manage a noisy classroom?
Primary classrooms are bound to be noisy at one point or the other. This question is inevitable and one of the most commonly asked primary teacher interview questions. The interviewers are looking for an active candidate with good classroom management skills.
How to answer: This is a chance to talk about your classroom management skills. Every teacher should have good classroom management skills, especially primary teachers. The best way to ensure the class is not too noisy is to keep the students engaged. Using interesting strategies while teaching is one way to go about it, storytelling, gamification, rewards for being quiet, etc are things that as a teacher you can do.
4. If a child does not do well in class, who is to blame?
This can be considered as a trick question wherein the panel is trying to understand your personality. Make sure you think before answering.
How to answer: Tell them that if a child isn’t performing well, there might be countless reasons for the same. Rather than blaming anyone, the first thing to do is to analyze and understand why the child is not performing well. If it is because the classes are not interesting enough, let the panel know that you will alter your teaching strategies. Convey that you will get to the bottom of the issue, connect with the parents, and resolve the problem instead of playing the blame game.
5.What is your salary expectation as a primary teacher?
You can expect this question in every interview and not just during the interview for a primary teacher. There are two levels to this question. When it comes to HR, it is to understand whether they can afford you, and quite often when it comes to the interviewers, they would want to know how invested you are in the job and how passionate you are.
How to answer: This is a very personal question and you have to frame your answer based on your experience and knowledge. State what you are bringing to the table and why it would be worthy for them to hire you. Tell them that it’s not always about the money and that you love teaching kids. Having said that, you also have commitments to be taken care of and you are looking for something decent. Research about the institution before quoting a price. You don’t want to go too low or too high.
6.What kind of teaching strategies do you use to motivate the students to study?
As you are teaching small kids, this is one of the most important primary teacher interview questions that you will come across. This is a chance for you to excel and prove how good you are as a teacher.
How to answer: Tell the panel that you understand that every kid is different and one specific teaching strategy cannot ensure effective learning. Tell them that you incorporate multiple methods and strategies like self-learning, storytelling, games, group activities, and more to ensure that your classes are interesting and the students remain attentive.
7.How do you resolve behavioral problems in your classroom?
Misbehavior and indiscipline are common in primary classrooms and the management of the school would want to know whether you are capable of handling such issues.
How to answer: Start by saying that behavioral issues need to be addressed and they need attention. Most often, behavioral issues stem from other causes, it might be because the student feels left out or neglected, tell the management that you would take your time and talk to the student, understand if something is bothering them and then take the necessary steps to resolve the issue.
8.What is your take on involving the parents in your classroom?
As a primary teacher, you would be expected to be in constant communication with the parents and hence this primary teacher interview question and answer is obvious.
How to answer: Frame your answer around the lines of how you perceive education. Education begins at home and it aims for the holistic development of a child. It is of paramount importance to be in contact with the parents to ensure that learning is effective.
9.What are your strengths?
This is a common interview question that every other candidate would have come across and has to be discussed while talking about primary teacher interview questions and answers. The interviewers would want to know more about your area of interest and strengths.
How to answer: Some basic skills are expected out of a good teacher. Try and frame your answer around the skills. For instance, compassion and patience are extremely important skills for teaching and if you draw attention to those skills of yours, higher are the chances for you to be selected. Communication skills, interpersonal skills, etc are also areas that you can talk about while discussing strengths. To know more about teaching skills, read our blog here.
10.What are your weaknesses?
This is a tricky question. You don’t want to come out as a fragile person. While it is advisable, to be honest, you have to answer smartly.
How to answer: This might sound contradictory, but play to your strengths here. You can say that you want everything to be perfect so you spend much time on that, you can also say that investing too much time to ensure that students understand the lesson is a weakness. Having said this, please ensure that you are genuine. These guidelines are just to give you an idea.
11.What is your opinion about extracurricular activities?
This is yet another common primary teacher interview question. The panel would want to know if you are someone who would go the extra mile and take initiatives to stay back for activities and club programs.
How to answer: Extracurricular activities help in shaping a child’s future. It encourages them, motivates them, and helps them to concentrate on studies more. Education is not just about textbook knowledge, there’s a lot more to it than that.
12.How would you encourage students who failed an exam?
Primary school teachers have the added responsibility of shaping the future generation. Experiences in childhood can make or break a person and as teachers, it is important to ensure that the kid does not go through traumatic experiences.
How to answer: Failing an exam is not the end of the world. Rather than scolding the kid for failing, you should find out what the underlying issue is. Encouraging them to do well the next time and giving them extra attention while not alienating them from the rest of the class is the best way to go about it.
13.What according to you makes you a good candidate?
This is a chance for you to talk about your abilities as a teacher. You need to come out as someone who is calm and composed.
How to answer: Make sure that your answer is genuine. You don’t have to list down the teaching skills, every other candidate would do that. Instead, talk about skills that make you, you. Take inspiration from your experience and it is a good idea to narrate a small story of why you chose to teach in the first place.
14.Why do you want to be a primary school teacher?
This is a common teacher interview question and you can expect this question from the panel.
How to answer: Teaching in primary school is significantly different from teaching higher secondary school students. The basics, the foundation, everything starts here and it is important to be committed and passionate about teaching to be a primary school teacher. Tell the interviewers that you love playing a part in shaping the future generation.
15.What do you have to offer us?
Through this question, the interviewees are looking to understand what qualities and skills you bring to the table.
How to answer: You can start by talking about your achievements as a teacher. It need not be an award or a medal. It can be something as simple as a child telling you how great your classes are. You can share your experience as a teacher and how you have been able to transform students. If you are a fresher, you can talk about your passion for the job and how interested you are to learn new things.
16.Describe one of your best classroom experiences
This is a very personal question and teachers usually have a long list of memories to share. The interviewers are looking to understand what type of teacher you are and evaluate your classroom management skills.
How to answer: If you are a fresher, you can talk about why you chose to be a teacher in the first place. If any teacher inspired you, a classroom experience as a student that made you fall in love with teaching. If you are an experienced teacher, go ahead and share the moment that you are proud of.
17.According to you, what personality traits should teachers have?
Teaching is a divine vocation. It is not a piece of cake. There are a lot of problems that teachers face and through this commonly asked teacher interview question, the interviewers are trying to analyze how good a teacher you are.
How to answer: The personality traits of a teacher should be polite, patient, kind, compassionate, and empathetic. The traits are not limited to the above mentioned but the list is incomplete without them. A teacher needs to understand that every child is unique and just be able to put themselves in others' positions before taking any decision.
18.What is your evaluation process like?
Evaluation and assessments are a major part of teaching. A lousy evaluation does not have a place in the teacher’s vocabulary and the management wouldn't want to hire someone who cannot tackle evaluation.
How to answer: If you were to grade a fish with its ability to climb a tree, it would fail, every single time. Different methods have to be adopted while evaluating students. Rather than sticking to one method, continuous evaluation and acknowledgment of efforts will help in fostering a good environment.
19.If you find out that a child in your class is being abused, what would you do?
With child abuse on the rise, every educational institution has taken a strict policy against child abuse. The abuse can be from another teacher or home or anywhere else. The management is trying to gather your opinion about the same.
How to answer: Child abuse is a sensitive issue. I can only imagine how traumatic it would be for the kid. The first thing to do is to reaffirm the child that they are believed and will be taken care of. The next step is to get to the bottom of the issue and understand it better. The final step is to report it to the authorities and give the kid proper counseling sessions.
20.Why do you want to teach here?
The management has to make sure that your values align with the culture of the organization. Hence, this is a common teacher interview question.
How to answer: Research about the organization before attending the interview. Also, understand their values, mission, and vision. Make sure that your answer resonates with their core values.
Now that we have discussed the important primary teacher interview questions and answers, let’s take a quick look at what the interviewers look for in a candidate:
1.Presentable
Make sure that you attend the interview in a presentable manner. This does not mean fancy clothes or jewelry. Be confident, smile often, and don’t be afraid to say that you don’t know something.
2.Energetic
Being a primary teacher demands a lot of energy and enthusiasm. You have got to keep up with the kids and hence interviewers look for energy and enthusiasm while conducting the interviews. Make sure that you come out as an active and energetic person while you appear for the interview.
3.Adaptability
Change is the only certainty. The education system is changing every day, a lot of changes have been proposed by the new education policy in India and not to mention that teaching is an ever-evolving profession. Resistance to change is not a good characteristic for a teacher and hence, interviewers look for adaptability. Most of the primary teacher interview questions are framed in such a way that the interviewees would understand whether you are adaptable or not.
Conclusion
We hope this list of primary teacher interview questions and answers help you to tackle all the interviews. It is advisable to prepare answers beforehand for the most common teacher interview questions. You can take help from articles and blogs but make sure to stay honest and genuine. A well-prepared answer might get you the job. Passion and genuineness are sure to fetch you the job. If you think we have missed any primary teacher interview questions and answers, please drop them in the comments section.
Happy Teaching!
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