A Successful Interview!! - Reflection & Advice
- Luke Kandiah
- Apr 2, 2024
- 11 min read
I'm very pleased to receive the news that a school I have interviewed for have offered me a position as an Art teacher.
Below I will detail the process of my successful application and interview process, so that it might help encourage or inform other PGCE students at this stage in their career.
The school is Leighton Park, a multi-award winning co-educational private school in Reading. Their academic excellence and educational values align perfectly with my own and I'm sure I will be well supported here.
I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with the talented faculty, some of whom I had the pleasure to meet during the interview process, & I'm confident that my experience and skills developed throughout the PGCE will help provide a meaningful, challenging and inspiring education to all students.
--------
Application Process:
The application process was straightforward, but I made sure to put in as much effort as possible into each step to present myself as well as I could. There is a risk with doing so many interviews to just copy and paste application documents and cover letters from other positions, but I encourage you to rewrite each application as a bespoke text. This is also good practice for Teacher interview questions such as 'why do you want to work at our school?' and 'How do your values align with our institution?".
Section One - Personal Details
Section Two - Educational and Professional Qualifications
These sections will be the same on every interview process, but its still important to proofread it, as formatting will differ.
Section Three - Other Vocational Qualifications, Skills, or Training
This is a space to write of any skills and training you have outside of formal education. I find its best to write everything, even skills you wouldn't think apply to education. Some schools will look for how you could contribute to enrichment or Period 7 activities and will be very interested in your unique skillset outside of your specialised subject.
I wrote:
School-based training certificates (number of them completed & detailing specific ones that employers may be interested in such as 'advanced first aid qualification', 'Enhanced DBS on the update service' or 'certificate of medicines'.
'I am always looking for ways to develop myself artistically and would be interested in running art clubs, facilitating exhibitions, and initiating collaborative projects.'
'I have high computer literacy. By incorporating modern technologies into my teaching, I have found success in expounding student understandings of the diversity of art careers and media, curating new opportunities for expression.'
Section Four, Five & Six - Employment History
This may also be similar to other jobs, but it can be good practice to tailer this to the school you are applying for also. - What skills did you learn from a past job that applies well to the position? How can your description of duties and responsibilities demonstrate professional development?
Section Seven - Interests
This could be interpreted as an extension to section three, but take this instead as an opportunity to discuss your values.
How do your personal values resonate with those of the school and how can you demonstrate this through your character?
In what ways have you gone above and beyond in previous roles?
What type of art are you interested in and why?
What type of artworks do you create and why?
Through this, the employer may judge your character and measure how well you will adapt to their school environment or what type of teacher you may be.
Section Eight - Supporting information
In this section please give your reasons for applying for the post and say why you believe you are suitable for the position. Study the job description and person specification and describe any experience and skills you have gained in other jobs or similar environments which demonstrate your ability and aptitude to undertake this post.
This section is your argument of why you should be considered, and generally i aim to write about twice what your would write in a cover letter.
Look at the specification for the job and the job description. If it isn't formatted as such already, compress it down into bullet points, write down how your experience can demonstrate each of these and expound on these as your structure.
I used the following structure for this:
Response to question: 'I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to your esteemed faculty and enhance the educational experience of your students. I would love to take this opportunity to describe the reasons why I apply to your advertised position of Art Teacher with enthusiasm.'
Reason for applying: Why does this position attract you to apply? What is it about this school that makes you excited about joining it?
Qualification for the position: 'I have a strong academic background that would apply well to this position.'
Commitment to CPD: We are entering this position as newly qualified teachers that are still completing training, so I feel its most honest to discuss how valuable the CPD is and how we would feel supported to develop at the school. 'As both an educator and an academic, I actively seek opportunities for professional development. I believe that it is crucial to continuously research contemporary pedagogical methodologies and engage in educational research projects.'
Experience as a teacher: What key stages, what subjects, what placements? How have you supported a broad range of students?
Applied skills: Describe how your prior professions and roles have developed skills that would apply well to the classroom and wider school setting, especially safeguarding skills.
Approach to education: What is your call/purpose to being a teacher? How will this be fulfilled at the school you are applying to? 'My approach to art education is rooted in the belief that every student has a unique creative voice waiting to be discovered, nurtured and developed.'
Strengths: What are your strengths as a teacher? What might your specialism be, how might your strengths be able to connect with and support a wide range of students?
Character: In what ways can the qualities of your character translate to effective teaching practices. 'I maintain a calm, empathetic, yet authoritative demeanour even under pressure, which has been instrumental in enforcing excellent standards of behaviour in my classrooms, as well as acting decisively in emergencies.'
Training: Without going into excessive detail, as training has been covered in a prior section, has there been a piece of training, pedagogical technique, seminar or practice that has had a large impact on your approach to teaching? - For me it was training on positive framing completed at a school i worked at.
Purpose: Finally, outline your purpose that you aim to complete as a professional art teacher. - 'It is my ultimate goal as an educator is to ignite a passion for artistic exploration and equip students with the tools they need to flourish creatively and intellectually, I believe that work at Leighton Park will give me a platform to achieve this and I look forward to applying myself fully to a community of impassioned educators and inspire a new generation of creativity and excellence.'
Section Nine & 10 - Declarations
Health and Criminal records.
Section 11 - References
It is very important to contact your references before applying. Ask them if they would be willing to contribute, some even may ask for a bullet point list of achievements that you would like them to discuss in the reference, but this usually isn't required depending on your relationship and impact on the referee.
Three references were required for this position.
I elected: previous boss in a school, Subject Mentor and Master's Lecturer. Although I later relied upon other professional peers and mentors for other references after the offer was accepted.
-------
Teacher Interview Preparation
To prepare for the Teacher interview, I went over practice questions, read through my application documents & cover letter and researched as much as I could about the school.
I found the following video useful in practicing to structure answers for the interview further:
However, unlike other interviews I had completed, I decided not to revise pre-written answers to specific questions and I feel that the answers I could provide to their questions were more naturally responded to because of this.
On the day I would be teaching an observed lesson, participating in a tour of the school, meeting the subject faculty and then I would meet the HoD and members from the SLT for the formal interview.
I focussed most on preparing for an effective observed lesson. Just as some may ask respected peers to proofread application documents, you can also ask respected mentors & teachers to proofread lesson plans. Their advice helped me to restructure parts of the lesson in order to give more time to develop student relationships and demonstrate necessary characteristics that I would be evaluated against, but also encouraged me not to over-plan but to teach in the way I am most comfortable.
It is vital to ask for necessary informations before the lesson to demonstrate responsive and adaptive teaching practice. I asked for:
Initials of students with SEND needs, detailing necessary information
A printed seating plan to be provided on arrival to assist with learning names
A description of rhythms in the school: how do students wait for the lesson to begin etc.
How can I reward students?
What extra materials might I have access to? - I didn't ask this broadly, but specifically in relation to resources I felt would help produce a more effective lesson.
If there will be access to a monitor/projected display
Timings for the lesson: specific times that the lesson will begin and end
Additionally I should have asked:
How are teachers addressed - I introduced myself as Mr Kandiah, however all teachers are regarded by their first name by students!
How are registers completed? - at this school, registers are not completed, so I had to adapt in the moment to account for activities to be completed by students while the register was happening.
-------
Lesson Plan:
I spent a lot of time in preparing excellent resources for this lesson. Completing the work in step by step sections, creating multiple guides and resources to support different levels of students, bringing printed resources with me and providing an engaging starter activity with time for a plenary at the end.
The subject of the lesson is a unique approach that I have designed to produce the most effective work out of the age group the lesson is for. Highlighting to the students that the material is tailer-made for them gives teachers the confidence that you can create bespoke materials.
Beyond the lesson plan I gave time for myself to build relationships with students, making a physical list of students I felt should be rewarded for contributions and effort & I spent further time during independent study to introduce myself to the teacher observing me (as they had arrived late) and discussing with them how impressed I was with the class' behaviour, engagement and attainment.
At the start of the lesson, I was told that the school does not complete registers. However, I felt it polite and appropriate to use the seating plan I was given to complete an informal register to acknowledge each student in the room and create that sense of community right away and to help me begin to start remembering students names so I can use them in my relationship-based teaching approach.
After the lesson I began packing away the resources and classroom, thanked the teachers that observed me and asked that they take the list of students I had made in the lesson to ensure they are rewarded for their contributions. Next to the name of each student I used the terminology of rewards systems I am familiar with to describe the ways in which each student had contributed.
-----
Tour of the school
The school has a very large site, and it would not be possible to view everything in the school during the time allocated for this.
However, I enjoyed this time tremendously as my tour-guide was a part of the art and design team. Instead of trying to see the whole school, I much preferred getting to know the technician, listening to their thoughts and experience of the culture at the school, how the values of the school are evident in the day to day life at the school, what the student culture around the art department is etc. This was a valuable opportunity to talk openly and create the foundation for a professional relationship. The most important thing for me to do when talking with any member of staff during the interview process is to develop a culture of community, support and teamwork. If I were to succeed in the role I would surely depend on these people for their support and so entering even the interview process with a disposition that seeks to listen, understand, empathise and support the staff working there will build a framework for supportive professional relationships.
Later in the interview I would discuss how important the value of community is. This is one of their values as a school and to be able to reflect on the relationships already being built allowed me to demonstrate that I would be invested in building an interdependent and supportive community at the school.
-----
Formal Interview
The formal interview was set up in a more imposing way than I had ever experienced. I had interviewed before for Eaton college and even that had seemed more personable in its format.
A long, stretched oval table stood as the centrepiece for the grand room. The two deputy heads and the subject head sat at tall chairs around the table before a large window that made it difficult to look directly at them. The staff were however very welcoming and the confidence I had resolved to simply answer their questions to the best of my ability.
As with every interview question, I think for a moment before I answer. Even if an answer comes to mind immediately, I try to format it within a comprehensive list of points I will make. 'Excellent question, three values come to mind when considering supporting young people in education...'
My goal when answering these questions is to be as precise as possible, but also to expand upon why they might be asking the question and answer that question as well. 'I understand that the practice of a teacher is defined by such values, and the characteristics I believe I have which demonstrate each of these are....' or 'If I might illustrate this with a personal example, then I would reflect on the time when...'
I have a tendency to create lists of three wherever possible and this might lead to longer answers than are warranted, however I feel like any interview is going well when I can see that interviewers skip questions. Every interview I have had, I will answer their questions in this way and I will breathe a sigh of relief when they say they skip questions they feel I have answered effectively. This provides needed breaks in my stress and a moment of relief that calms any nerves of being judged or disapproved.
Every interview for a teaching position will describe a safeguarding question. Every interview I have had it has been the same question.
Every interviewer expects the same answer as it demonstrates an understanding of safeguarding concerns and procedures.
The question I have received describes a situation where a student discloses something to you as a teacher.
My answer always follows the same formula:
Acknowledge - identify it as a safeguarding question
Explain - experience working in roles where safeguarding is vital, why its important and that teachers have a duty of care to the children in their supervision and protection
Respond - Answer the question by first stating that as a professional if you cannot promise confidentiality to the child and that you need to follow up on anything disclosed to ensure that they are safe.
Act - Identify the process required to follow up on the situation appropriately. contacting the DSL, LADO if necessary, Do not let the child leave your care until you are confident they are not returning to an unsafe environment. Make a note to ensure that these disclosures are followed up on.
Their names were offered to me before I arrived so I made an effort to remember them and associate them with faces as I was introduced to them. When there was time for me to ask questions at the end I made a point of turning to and naming each with a personal question.
Although the questions I had were all answered during the process, I made a point of using this as an opportunity to judge the character of the staff, to test their priorities and passion for education and supportting the students there.
More than anything I was sure to identify where my values aligned with the schools and to talk about this with great enthusiasm. This came through in relationship building with the staff there including the SLT and I am confident that I would be well supported at the school.
I look forward to working there immensely and I wish you luck as you apply to teaching postiions too. I hope something in my reflection is useful for you. :)
Comments