Moving from one teaching job to another is a big decision. And in education you have the peculiarity - which many other professions are not affected by - that your leader will know you are thinking of leaving, even if you haven’t told them. This is, of course, entirely correct and ensures that safer recruitment procedures are more effective. However, it all adds to the pressure of getting the job.
To give yourself the best chance of doing so, you will want to make sure that your teaching and learning skills are showcased as much as possible on the day of interview. Here are some elements to bear in mind:
Getting your teaching interview lesson right
Do your homework
Some of the most critical work involved in showing that you’re an excellent school teacher starts long before you cross the threshold. What do you know about the school and its culture? What is its approach to teaching phonics, for example? How does it set for its science classes? What is the catchment area and what are the implications for your lesson content, if any?
The answers to these questions will add up to how well your lesson will be received by, firstly, the students and, secondly, those who may or may not offer you the job. Getting the pitch right (everything from pace to level of vocabulary, content and stimulus) will have a significant impact on the impression you give of your teaching ability.
Build relationships
Will you greet students at the door of the classroom or stand behind your desk as they come in? This scenario may or may not be as significant in your own setting, but with a class that you don’t know, in an artificial lesson interview, it will say a lot to those observing.
More teacher interviews:
Are you asking students for their names when they put their hands up? Have you introduced yourself at the start and said a little bit about who you are? One thing that is true of all learning: we find it harder to learn from people we do not have an effective, positive relationship with. Get this right and you are more than halfway there to being able to showcase your skills.
Show your mastery of the basics
Have you prepared modelling that is clear and succinct, and that both challenges the more able and includes enough scaffolding to support those that require it? Have you planned enough back-up activities so that, despite your excellent preparation, you have something to fall back on if required? Have you included on your flipchart or somewhere in your lesson an activity that clearly evidences the progress that students are making in your lesson, which not only serves as a useful assessment-for-learning tool for you but also evidences to the observer that progress is being made?
It may be tempting to go all-out, but any elaborate approach should be grounded in the above. Consider playing it a little safer and focusing more on demonstrating mastery of the fundamental teaching and learning strategies.
Focus on learning skills
Whatever role and stage you are applying for, you have a responsibility as a teacher to not only develop learners’ knowledge in the specific subject area but also develop their learning skills. Do not shy away from using consistent vocabulary, even with younger students, around what learning skill they are demonstrating.
Have you praised the collaborative skills of each group? Did you notice and celebrate the critical thinking that a student articulated when they answered your questions, or did you just focus on whether they got the answer correct? Was it noted by you in front of the class that a student did not get the answer at the first attempt but did on the third, and therefore demonstrated the ability to learn through trial and error and had the personal disposition of resilience in order to do so?
The more you show that students in your interview lesson are aware of how they are learning, the more the observer becomes aware that you are not only an excellent teacher of your subject area or age phase but also an excellent teacher full stop.
Being able to secure a new teaching job is not just about box-ticking. It’s about demonstrating passion, preparation and professional mastery. After all, teaching isn’t just a job; it’s a craft, and an interview lesson is your opportunity to shine.
Jason Ford is the deputy head at Hampton Pre‑Prep and Prep School in Middlesex
