Preschool Teacher, also known as Kindergarten Teacher is an individual who is employed to teach children, from infants to 4 years olds in a preschool daytime setting. This teaching includes basic skills like the ability to learn, maintaining discipline, teaching extra-curricular, and keeping the children safe. It is a very responsible role as it involves providing foundational education to the young ones to shape and nurture their mind. It is a very rewarding job, so you are planning to apply for this role and you have relevant skills and qualifications, we have this article for you to help you prepare for your interview.
Essential Preschool Teacher Interview Questions
Question 1. Why do you want to work as a preschool teacher?
Answer: “I want to be a part of this school because I enjoy being around children. It will be a great opportunity for me to be a part of the foundational development of the child. Teaching has always been my interest since I passed high school. I used to tutor kids around the neighborhood as a source of earning pocket money and I really use to enjoy the whole process of teaching.”
Question 2. Teaching toddlers is really challenging, are you ready to take it?
Answer: “Challenges never fear me. I love taking on challenges and if a challenge means being a part of these toddlers learning journey, I am eager to take one. I know I will have a huge responsibility on my back to be able to shape these young minds but I am ready for it as that is what I have signed up for. I am aware of all the challenges and difficulties that are going to come along the way.”
Question 3. What relevant skills do you possess to qualify as a good preschool teacher?
Answer: “The skills that I possess are mainly the ability to understand and make people understand what I have to teach them in a very easy way. I am a very patient person when it comes to teaching. I tend to give the students their time to open up which makes me flexible. I possess creative skills that help me develop different approaches of teaching, so if one doesn’t work, I can automatically switch to another.”
Question 4. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?
Answer: “One of my most favorite subjects to teach is Environmental Studies. Nature is very close to my heart and this subject is very close to nature. This subject has a very practical knowledge which excites children to know more about it. This subject contains a lot of good information for the science foundation. It brings out the curiosity in children and this is why is my favorite subject to teach.
Question 5. How do you measure students’ success?
Answer: “Each student has his own pace of learning which develops a different definition of success for each one of them. There are so many methods to measure their success, the one that I prefer is measuring their success on the overall performance basis as to how they are performing in the class is way more important to me than what their report card says. I try to identify the weakness of a student and work on it to enhance his performance.”
Question 6. Why should we hire you as a preschool teacher?
Answer: “You should hire me for this role because I really think I possess all the relevant skills and experience that satisfy this job requirement. I am good with the children and I am totally ready to teach them and I am confident enough that I am the perfect fit for this job as I have developed my skillset over time.”
Question 7. Tell me about a time when you handled a difficult student.
Answer: “There was this one kid in my previous job, I used to be his class teacher and he was really not taking in anything I used to teach him and was constantly misbehaving in the class. His performance was just getting worse day by day. I called his parents to discuss the matter with them and to see if everything is right at their home and they brought to my notice that the student is unable to maintain calm and stay focused. I talked to that student in private and listened to whatever he had to say and I was able to convince him to commit to his studies.”
Question 8. What is your style of teaching?
Answer: “A simple textbook cannot really give all the knowledge that student needs, so I keep organizing quizzes and some practical sessions and video lectures that help the student to learn better. I have my own youtube page for making their learning process better and so that they can revise any of the topics left out.”
Question 9. Do you have any questions for us?
Answer: “Yes, I would be really pleased to know more about this school and its culture.”
Question 10. What is your take on the student’s assessment?
Answer: “I would prefer the assessment of the student to be on the class performance, an oral test and on a written test basis.”
Question 11. What do you think is one of the greatest difficulties that children are facing today?
Answer: “As the mode of teaching is shifting more to the technological side, the children today lack social skills, they tend to be more to themselves than to interact with others. The chalkboard method of teaching is vanishing and I believe it is a method that puts much more impact than the e-rooms of teaching.”
Question 12. Coming from the literature background what book are you currently reading?
Answer: “I am currently reading a book that is going to help me do my job better, it is a self-help book by Jim Fay and David Funk, known as ‘Teaching with love and logic: Taking control of the classroom’.”
Question 13. List five adjectives that describes you the best.
Answer: “Five adjectives that would describe me the best are
- Friendly
- Flexible
- Creative
- Experienced
- Ambitious”
Question 14. What is your teaching mostly aimed towards?
Answer: “My teachings and lessons are mostly aimed towards promoting the mental ability of children so that they can be able to develop their own reasons and logic behind a particular theory. I focus on the social and academic development of the student.”
Question 15. Do you think a child with special needs should be enrolled in the class?
Answer: “In my opinion, I believe that it depends upon what methods we have to be able to teach them as there are schools which solely focus on children like that, so in order to give them proper education we need to have those assets to assess their needs.”
Question 16. What are the key responsibilities of a preschool teacher?
Answer: “Key responsibilities are
- Evaluating children’s performance
- Communicating with parents to keep them updated on their child’s performance and behavior
- Preparing assessments and reports
- Monitor the students
- Making sure that the students are safe
- Developing programs and activities to stimulate the learning process”
Question 17. How many years of experience do you have in being an early childhood educator?
Answer: “I am experienced in tutoring but I am new to teaching in a school environment which is why I am looking forward to working here to gain that experience.”
Question 18. How do you encourage children to work as a team?
Answer: “By creating group projects, quizzes, competitions and by creating teams for certain activities. It is a great way to motivate them to collaborate with each other.”
Question 19. What is the role of parents in preschool education?
Answer: “In my opinion, parents should be aware of how their young one is performing in the class and also about the points where he lacks so that they themselves can work something out to teach a child in a parental way. This is why I try to communicate with them as as possible to keep them updated about the child’s progress.”
Question 20. How do you deal with staff conflict?
Answer: “Honestly, I am here to educate my students and do what’s assigned to me, and there’s nothing else I would like to be involved in, especially conflicts like that, I try to maintain a distance, and if work place conflict arises I try to peacefully sort it out as our role here is not to hold on to any sort of grudges but to provide meaningful education.”
Question 21. What according to you are the highlights of a teaching career?
Answer: “For me, it is a very rewarding field as
- The students look up to you and you influence their future
- You get to learn something new every day
- You get to have fun while teaching children
- You get to work in a really innovative and creative setting”
So, these were the common question that can be asked in an interview. Interviews are challenging but the answer comes naturally to you when you are really passionate about something. We would suggest you review the article for thorough preparation.
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (for Pre School Teacher interviews):
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