The Exam, Presentation & Interview You are required to attend - - PDF document

The Exam, Presentation & Interview

You are required to attend interview for any course that involves work with children. This is a legal issue. Before the interview  You will need experience working with children. Preferably in a classroom and with the age group you want to teach. Your interview will be based on your personal experiences and if you don’t have this then you won’t be able to answer the questions fully.  Familiarise yourself with the national curriculum.  Research factors currently affecting education. Keep an eye on the news.  Practise, practise, practise. There are a lot of examples of interview questions below. Go through them with a friend, family member, on your own.  Research the university and course you are applying for.  Read over what you wrote in your personal statement.  Double check interview date, time and location. Decide how you are going to get there. If possible do a test run a few days before the interview. The exam  Some universities will require you to do a short literacy and numeracy exam before the interview. If the university you apply for follows this protocol they will inform you about this when they invite you to interview.  All teachers are teachers of numeracy and literacy. The university needs to know that you are able to perform basic numeracy and literacy functions with ease in order to set a good example for your students.  Literacy exam: Don’t worry too much about the content of the written exam; they are just making sure your written communication skills are of a high standard.  Numeracy exam: these will be basic questions i.e. addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions.

The presentation  Some universities will require you to deliver a presentation. If the university you apply for follows this protocol they will inform you about this when they invite you to interview.  While the content of your presentation is important the interviewers will be looking at your time keeping skills, communication skills and your ability to captivate an audience.  You will probably be allowed to bring small flash cards, if you do this keep them short and try not to use them. Do not read your whole presentation from a sheet of paper.  Stick to the time limit.  Look at your audience not the floor, speak clearly and slowly.  Practise, practise practise. Practise your pitch, speed, tone and the presentation itself. Practice interview questions This is not an exhaustive list. It is just an example of the issues and questions you should think about when preparing for your interview. You may not be asked any of these questions during your interview. General questions  Why do you want to be a teacher?  What do you think makes a good teacher?  Why do you think you will be a good teacher?  Why do you want to attend this university?  What skills does a good teacher have?  What skills do you possess that will make you a good teacher?  What qualities does a good teacher have?  What qualities do you possess that will make you a good teacher? *Sometimes the skills and qualities questions will be combined. Make sure you know the difference between skills and qualities!  Why do you want to be a Primary/Post Primary/Special Needs/Early Childhood teacher?  What will you get out of this course?  What are you most/least looking forward to?  Tell me a bit about yourself.

Competence questions A good technique when answering these type interview questions is to use the STAR system. Situation: What was the situation and when did it take place? Task: What was the task and what was the objective? Action: What action did you take? Results: What happened as a result of your action?  Describe a situation where you have had to cope well under pressure.  Describe a situation where you have had to use your initiative.  Describe a situation when you had to work in a team. ·  Describe a situation when you had to solve a problem. ·  Describe a situation when you had to be creative. Reflective questions  Describe the layout of an ideal classroom.  Think of a lesson (it could be one you were taught or observed) what were the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson?  What do you think constitutes good teaching?  What, in your experience, makes teaching effective? How can you tell that it is effective?  How is good classroom management achieved? How important is this in teaching?  What does a good school look like?  What type (primary/post primary/grammar/secondary/special/ integrated/Irish medium/single sex/co-educational/Dickson plan) of school would you like to work in and why? What made you rule out other types of schools?  What makes a good lesson?  What aspect of teaching worries/concerns you? What will you do to overcome this concern?  How do you think children learn best?  What makes you learn best? Do you think this approach suits everyone?  What is the difference between school today and your own school days?

Experience questions  What did you most/least enjoy about your work experience?  What experience do you have working with children?  What experience do you have working in the classroom?  What have you learnt from your experience working with children?  Can you think of a time you helped a child, why was this experience memorable?  How has your own educational experience affected how you view teaching? Can you think of a positive and negative aspect of your own educational experience?  Can you describe an inspirational teacher? Situation questions  What would you do if a child was struggling with their numeracy/literacy?  How would you encourage a timid child to engage in group work?  How would you develop an ethos of equal opportunities in the classroom?  How would you approach teaching a mixed ability class? What would you do to encourage less able children? What would you do to encourage the most able children?  How would you approach teaching a child for whom English is an additional language?  What would you do if a pupil refused to participate in a class activity?  How would you approach discipline in a classroom?  How would you motivate pupils who had no interest in your subject?  What would think about when preparing the classroom for the first day of a new school year with a new class?  How would you make a dull topic interesting?  What would you do if a high achiever was underperforming?  How would you use a Teaching Assistant in the classroom?  If you could take a class of pupils anywhere in the world to teach them about insert subject/topic) where would you take them and why?  How would you convince a parent about the importance of your subject/key stage?  How would you use ICT effectively in the classroom?

Questions on the education system  How does your subject fit into the national curriculum aims and objectives?  If applying to a Northern Irish university – What are the strengths/weaknesses

• f the revised curriculum? If not applying to Northern Ireland then research

developments in the local curriculum.  What do you think will be the most difficult area of your subject to teach? Why? How will you overcome this challenge?  What recent developments in education have caught your attention? Why?  Have you noticed anything affecting education in the news/media recently?  What do you think are the most important issues that education is facing at the moment?  What problems are Primary/Secondary/Special Educational Needs/Early Childhood studies settings facing at the minute?  What do you think about placing pupils with Special Educational Needs in mainstream schools?  Can you talk about a government publication that has affected education? What do you think the impact has been? Extracurricular questions  What hobbies and interests do you have?  What hobbies and interests do you have that could be turned into extracurricular activities in a school setting?  How important is it for a school to have a good range of extracurricular activities? Primary questions  What key stage would you prefer to teach? Why?  What key stage are you most interested in and why? Post Primary questions  Why do you want to be a (English/Maths/Science...etc.) teacher?  What other subjects would you like to teach?  What subjects would you least like to teach? Why?  What area of your subject do you know best? Can you explain this area to me?

Interview tips  You will probably be asked to bring ID and exam certificates to the interview. Don’t forget them.  Arrive in very good time.  Be relaxed.  Talk about your own school experiences.  Prepare well in advance.  Do sell yourself!  Smile!  Be polite, open doors for your interviewer, thank them for their time.  Be confident and be yourself. Remember the interviewers will be looking at you and thinking “Would I want to be taught by this person?”  Bring a bottle of water.  Think about questions you want to ask the interviewers at the end of the

• interview. Try to be original, not “When will I hear?”

 Think about how you are dressed. Teaching is a professional and traditional career. Don’t go for anything too flashy. For the boys shirt, tie, black trousers and nice shoes. For the girls black trousers/pencil skirt and

• shirt. Don’t make the heels overly high and less is more in terms of make-up.

 Be careful with your time. If the interview is meant to last 20 minutes and has lasted 35 minutes something has gone wrong.  Speak clearly and slowly.  If it is a panel interview make sure you pay attention to all panel members.  If you need a question repeated ask the interviewer to repeat it.  If a question has two or three parts make sure you address each one. Sources:  www.tda.gov.uk – Training Development Agency  www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/ivteaching.htm - Kent University  www.recruitni.com – Recruit NI  www.nijobfinder.co.uk – NI Jobfinder