Mock Interview

Summary

The video features a mock interview with a teaching candidate, recently graduated and aspiring to work in a P-12 setting. Through the interview, the candidate highlights their passion for teaching, ability to differentiate instruction, and the importance of building relationships within the educational community. They emphasize a student-centered and social constructivist approach, aiming to foster both academic and social skills among students. The discussion also touches upon handling primary and secondary education differences, effective relationship-building with students and parents, and the crucial role of feedback for professional development. The video ends with insights into school-wide strategies and support for new teachers.

Highlights

• The candidate recently graduated, specializing in primary and secondary education. 🎓
• Differentiation in teaching is key to addressing varied student needs across different settings. 🔍
• Building student-teacher relationships is crucial for effective learning, especially in a P-12 school. 🤝
• Student feedback and self-reflection in teaching practice are vital for continued teacher growth. 🧠
• Collaboration with colleagues and leveraging up-to-date theoretical knowledge enhance teaching methods. 📚

Key Takeaways

• Emphasize a student-centered approach, leveraging peer interactions for effective learning. 🎓
• Build strong relationships with both students and colleagues to enhance the learning environment. 🤝
• Utilize differentiated teaching methods to cater to individual student needs effectively. 🌟
• Reflect on teaching practice regularly to ensure strategies are effective and adapt as necessary. 🔄
• Engage parents and address their concerns proactively; celebrate student achievements regularly. 🎉

Overview

In this engaging mock interview, a teaching candidate articulately discusses their recent educational journey and aspirations to excel in a P-12 teaching environment. With a strong foundation in both primary and secondary education, they convey their commitment to a student-centered approach, focusing on individual needs through effective differentiation and inclusivity. The candidate emphasizes the role of social constructivism in fostering a collaborative and dynamic learning atmosphere.

The interview reveals the candidate’s strategy for building meaningful relationships with students, recognizing the unique differences between primary and secondary settings. They describe their inclusive approach to education, where a supportive, communicative classroom community is paramount, and stress the importance of an open dialogue with both students and parents to support student development. Reflection and feedback systems are integral to the candidate's continuous improvement and success.

Finally, the discussion touches on broader educational philosophies and the candidate's readiness to adapt and grow within a supportive school culture. They express a proactive mindset towards professional development, showcasing their understanding of school-wide strategies like mentorship for newcomers. The candidate's reflective insights and collaborative spirit align well with institutional goals, highlighting their potential to make a notable impact in the educational field.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Initial Questions The chapter introduces a job interview scenario where the interviewer, Eternity, welcomes the candidate and acknowledges the receipt of their survey and job application. The interviewer expresses interest in discussing the job application in detail, as the candidate has recently graduated, specializing in primary and secondary education. The interviewer is curious about the candidate's inclination toward working in a P-12 school setting.
• 00:30 - 02:30: Discussion on Qualifications and Skills The chapter discusses the qualifications and skills required for teaching at different school levels, specifically addressing primary and secondary education. The speaker feels equipped to teach both levels due to their qualifications and training. They emphasize the ability to differentiate teaching methods to accommodate various student needs in both primary and secondary classrooms.
• 02:30 - 05:00: Differentiation in Teaching Approaches This chapter discusses the importance of differentiation in teaching methods, highlighting the need to support students across varying levels of ability. It emphasizes the teacher's role in challenging advanced students while providing additional help to those who require it. It also stresses the importance of teachers developing the skills necessary to effectively support both ends of the educational spectrum, especially in secondary settings.
• 05:00 - 07:30: Student-Centered Approach and Relationships The chapter discusses the student-centered approach and the importance of building relationships in education, specifically in the context of preparing for a K-12 setting. It highlights the aspects of differentiation and providing support for students as essential skills. The course mentioned in the transcript has focused significantly on these areas to equip educators with the necessary tools to cater to diverse learning needs and foster strong educational relationships.
• 07:30 - 10:00: Collaborative Learning and Classroom Dynamics The chapter focuses on the importance of understanding the diverse needs of students within a classroom. It highlights the challenge of having students who learn and behave differently and the necessity for educators to address these differences. The content emphasizes the importance of differentiation and inclusive practices, ensuring proactive teaching and preparation to cater to all student needs.
• 10:00 - 12:30: Assessment Strategies and Effectiveness This chapter discusses assessment strategies and their effectiveness, with a focus on behavior management and positive behavior approaches. It emphasizes the importance of inclusive education, acknowledging that students have diverse needs regardless of diagnoses or labels.
• 12:30 - 15:00: Parent Involvement and Challenges The chapter discusses the importance of differentiation in education, tailored to individual learning needs. It notes the varying strategies between primary and secondary education. The speaker highlights primary education's greater flexibility in implementing differentiated work and targeting students with Information and Communication Technology (ICT). They imply this customization supports different learners effectively within educational sessions.
• 15:00 - 18:00: Support and Mentorship for New Teachers The chapter discusses the importance of integrating technology in education, providing opportunities for both targeted and general use among students. In primary settings, resources are more readily available, making it easier to implement technology compared to secondary settings, where there might be more constraints and challenges. Despite these challenges, it is crucial to leverage available resources to enhance learning experiences.
• 18:00 - 27:00: School-wide Approaches and Conclusion The chapter focuses on school-wide approaches to enhance integration and well-being. It highlights the importance of teamwork and support in decision-making processes. The chapter suggests using hands-on and tactile activities in secondary-level classes, such as math, to create inclusive environments where all students can participate without feeling singled out.

Mock Interview Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 however eternity thanks very much for coming in for this interview it was wonderful we receive a survey and a job application and then have a few more I have a few more questions that I'd like to ask you about it if you're comfortable with that yeah absolutely I noticed that you just recently completed your studies and you've graduated specializing in primary and secondary education so congratulations for that and this is a Peter twelve school so I'm wondering what draws usually to twelve setting you know why
• 00:30 - 01:00 would you prefer to teach at a Peter twelve school firstly the qualification in the primary secondary I think has equipped me to equip me well to be able to deliver both in the primary and the second sector and the pedagogy that we learned through the course allows me to not only differentiate up but also down so if I'm in a primary classroom I have the skills and the abilities and the knowledge to teach students that need to
• 01:00 - 01:30 be pushed that little further and challenged a little further as well but also support the students that need it need some more support as well and actually have the skills to be able to do that and that is the clickable or say in the secondary setting and as we know there's a lot of students that might be new seven eight nine ten you know even higher that do need extra support or also do need to be extended so I have the skills to be able to go on either end of that and if I don't have them be
• 01:30 - 02:00 able to source them as well okay so let's go a little bit deeper into that into how your course has specifically prepared you for Peter 12 setting you talked about differentiation and you talked about providing support for students and the skills that you have can you just elaborate on those areas a little bit more in terms of the particular ways the course has prepared you oh absolutely so we you know spent a lot of time focusing on different
• 02:00 - 02:30 approaches and I think that's very important in one classroom you might have 25 years but all 25 kids have different means and they do or learn differently and that's a suppose the challenges of the role and whether its behavioral or academic we need to sort of cater to all of those student needs so the course has equipment with skills in differentiation and in inclusive practice so to make sure that I'm proactive in my teaching and in my learning so I do that in preparation
• 02:30 - 03:00 into class and also with behavior management able to focus on a positive behavior approach as well so the course does go into detail with those aspects and inclusive education is one of those areas now where you know in something that is that front and center of our mind as teachers going into the role and we see it regardless of whether students are necessarily diagnosed or labeled is that we'll do have different needs as
• 03:00 - 03:30 individuals yes can you give me an example of something you might do to differentiate for different learners in a session let's say or you can choose fondness that can give you um it's interesting because I've seen a primary and secondary does vary a little bit I think somewhat in primary setting we have a bit more flexibility to do that so we can go in with differentiated work we can target students with ICT if
• 03:30 - 04:00 that's where they need it but at the same time we're not just targeting specific kids that need that but we're providing an opportunity for everyone to use that technology I think that's something that primer in within a primary setting were able to do I suppose a lot more ease here we have a lot more resources but as we go through the curriculum and we get into the secondary setting sometimes they can be quite constrained so they do come some challenges with that but at the same time you need to pull in the resources
• 04:00 - 04:30 around you within that school so whether it's integration and well-being and just your team to be able to support you in making those choices and and that's something that I plan to use moving forward and so we know within the secondary sector if it's a maths class you can look at doing activities that's really hands-on and more tactile for particular students but it's also activity that everyone can participate in so it doesn't single anyone out particularly and at the same time you
• 04:30 - 05:00 can give modified works so while everyone's working on particular tasks there are students that working on modified work and the same extension as well hmm now I suppose you know as you say the flexibility particularly in the primary setting you seem to have more control over time you're doing the secondary with the very rigid time to have classes where the students are moving around much more frequently yeah absolutely um so what do you think would be your key focus for you professionally if you
• 05:00 - 05:30 were teaching across primary and secondary context Michael McKean focus would be in using a student-centered approach or constructive is constructivist approach so I've always found and particularly during placement as well that kids learn best from each other they engage well when they are partnered up together or in particular groups and they're able to interact with their peers so while you're building academic knowledge also building those
• 05:30 - 06:00 social skills that are really important as well and with that there's an opportunity to teach his collaborative learning and so that can social constructivist approach is something that sort of front and center of my mind always and ideally you know that's where I want my students to be and sometimes it's challenges with that so it can be a bit of a slower approach sometimes you might have a cohort of students that they able to work really well together and I've been doing it for some time so
• 06:00 - 06:30 we think that that those parameters there can be challenges as well hmm how do you see the role of relationships in the work that you do yeah I think teaching is definitely a social job so you need to be enjoy being around other people not only peers and colleagues but obviously students as well and in a Peter 12 school it's across the age so you can be spending year with five year olds and then you know the next year you could be teaching VCE and they could be
• 06:30 - 07:00 1718 and driving and those relationships will look different and that's something that you know you need to be prepared for Boeing me to a Peter 12 school mmm and what would you consider as your key strength for taking up a teaching mom here in our school definitely the ability to differentiate and also form collaborative relationships so both within peers but also with students as well and one thing I've seen within
• 07:00 - 07:30 pacer and just with the limited experience at this point that I've had is that students come to school but they want to come and actually work for you most of the time so if they've got a favorite subject it's the teacher that actually is who they're favoring not necessarily subjects but that's how it pans out so building those relationships with students is key and they do take time and it can be challenging as well but the you know in the secondary sector
• 07:30 - 08:00 there's different challenges and building those relationships as opposed to the primary sector what do you think is the key skill that you have that on the house you build effective relationships with your students I think asking questions are being willing to listen and at the same time sharing a little bit about myself so it's definitely in partnership and if I were going to expect them to work me or share information with me I need to be willing to reciprocate that as well mmm-hmm and
• 08:00 - 08:30 what about the skills that you bring to working collaboratively with your colleagues what do you think you can bring to the school in terms of those relationships well one thing that's front of center working collaboratively is coming out of the University City at this point from a theoretical perspective that's sort of front and center so I would know what's happening what the research is saying what we could be potentially doing differently so what's you know current from an
• 08:30 - 09:00 educational perspective there but in terms of forming those relationships you know being open being willing to share information and that's also I would expect back as well and you know when you're getting stuck being okay to go and ask someone for help who is definitely that's fantastic and we do rely a lot on that graduates to share their up-to-date information that's really important for all our teaching teams so that's the great that's a great way to think about
• 09:00 - 09:30 it you've talked about a social constructivist approach to your teaching can you tell it can you explain why you think that approach or do you think that approach is equally applicable to primary settings and secondary absolutely I think it's definitely across the board yes sometimes actually I found this in placement as well you could be trying to explain a concept it could be anything from spelling it could
• 09:30 - 10:00 be a mathematical or a literacy concept and I'm explaining it in my terms I can try and simplify but at the end of the day I'm adult explaining it the way I know it now so sometimes and I have asked students that you know who appear really confident I ask if anyone wants to help explain a lot of time they're willing and when they come and explain I go that just sounded perfect that's exactly what I was trying to say ever kids get that in it at the same time it builds these peer relationships and also respectful relationships for their peers
• 10:00 - 10:30 at the same time you know students gain confidence and slowly those kids that maybe don't talk up you can see that there's opportunity to do that as well hmm so if I was to walk into your new grade 4 class and given that you frame them around a social constructivist perspective and relationships are really important questioning and all of those sorts of things what can I expect to see in your classroom in terms of what you'd
• 10:30 - 11:00 be doing and what your students might be doing okay so walking to my classroom I would hope that you'll notice three things so one is the way that it looks too is the way that it feels when you're walking there and three is the way that it sounds so if I'm in a primary setting my classroom is going to look at the particular way we're going to have student work up on the board we're going to celebrate achievements both big and small there also be resources around them in relation to and literacy and numeracy that they can when they're
• 11:00 - 11:30 working they can sort look up and look around and be able to pinpoint certain ideas and the way it feels so when you're walking I wanted to feel like a community and we'll have our own little community within those four walls I think it's really important and you go and that takes time to build and that's something that we build collaboratively with the students so the way I like to do that is what I have called a community ball so we build this fall and we have you know where we all
• 11:30 - 12:00 come from on there and everyone knows that little bit extra about their peers so they have able to build that respectful relationship and then the thirdly is the way that it sounds so if we're doing there'll be a lot of group work a lot of inquiry and a lot of constructivist approaches so won't necessarily be silent so I want when you're walking I want you to hear that kids are talking to each other they're collaborative they're collaborating together and that we're sort of celebrating you know there's little
• 12:00 - 12:30 milestones that we reach and obviously there's times as well where things do need to be quiet we need to be focused and it's you know type of independent work - that sounds fantastic you know that sounds really exciting and I really want to walk into that classroom what I expect to see the same sort of structures if you were working with Ian Hynes quite possibly not how did that DVD at the U in progress where there's a
• 12:30 - 13:00 lot of structure and I believe kids work well with structure so why the thing I think that's really important is taking that structure structure straight into high school as well so you ability kids thrive like that so when they come into the classroom being that they'll be walking around in particular periods they come in respectfully they come in silently and they see when they're asked to be seated we then collaboratively go together we look at our learning intention and our success criteria so
• 13:00 - 13:30 that kids know exactly what we aim to achieve today and how we're going to get there at the same time we'll have a behavior focus so what is it that we're focusing today at this particular point in time with behavior and that's something that can change so depending on the code students that's you know it might vary now from there we'll always talk about what we learned in our previous lesson and recap and have that conversation before we move on to our new topic if
• 13:30 - 14:00 that's what we if that's what we're doing now in the secondary setting there's a little bit more maturity in the students as well so that's where also want to build some autonomy and independence at the same time and that's done by building those relationships with first units so at the start of the year and I have a new group of students who always get to play get to know your activities and I know from those activities and the information that's given to me whether kids like to work in groups or independently so I have that
• 14:00 - 14:30 at the back of my mind whenever we're starting the new topic and in my planning so walking into my classroom you'll hopefully see a combination of things here so kids that work well together kids that one or work independently and that will change depending where we are on the topic that we're learning and yeah hmm that's really interesting I think building students sense of Independence too and
• 14:30 - 15:00 is also about their decision-making and hearing them options and things that they're doing as well so it sounds like you know there's lots of opportunities for that in the way that you frame your classes that all sounds great but how do you know if you're teaching strategies are actually effective you know it would be the indicators you use to determine if you were having the impact that you desire with your students yeah obviously assessment is a big part to that and
• 15:00 - 15:30 we're assessing all the time we're assessing every day whether it's formative summative so you know there's the informal informal up components as well the assessing you know you know in a mathematics classroom a lot of the times we'll do a pre assessment before a particular topic and then we'll do a post assessment but at the same time during those classes we're having dialogue with the students I'm able to gather information assessment data informally as well and with maths I think one of the what it
• 15:30 - 16:00 allows you to do is people want to catch up gathered for more data it lets me see whether it's right or wrong but at the same time I want to be able to capture where is that that we've made some areas where have those areas occurred but also like to assess myself so if I to assessment and I see what a particular concept but the majority of students haven't gotten it well I need to look at myself so where has that error happened
• 16:00 - 16:30 so there's a lot of self-reflection there as well and then on top of that I need to look at my testing measures so needs to determine is that the test is it the teaching or do we need to recap it differently you know where has that gap happened yes we do a lot of collection and doubted that we in zeros I think you've hit on something very powerful there about the nature of the data the intellect we can get lots of statistics but it doesn't actually give us much of an insight into what
• 16:30 - 17:00 particular aspects of that work students are struggling with so absolutely you know you've raised some really glue issues there and also I love to hear that you not only use assessment to determine the strengths and areas of concern for students but that you come back to yourself as a result of that and think about your own practice absolutely if that's fantastic what about feedback from parents have you built that into your assessment of whether your teaching strategies are effective or not parent
• 17:00 - 17:30 involvement is interesting you know it differs in the primary setting compared into the secondary setting so in a primary school often you see parents on a daily basis or you'll see a parent or a carer if you notes you'll see them at some point they come in they go so those are great opportunities to build those relationships and you know it doesn't need to be a half an hour conversation it can be you know sort of fleeting beneath as well and then building those relationships slowly able to create an
• 17:30 - 18:00 open dialogue with those parents and ultimately you know we've got a common goal and that's you know their child the achievement of their child so in primary schools definitely find that it's beatings yeah there's parent helpers and all that sort of thing but once you get into a high school setting can be a lot more trickier kids are welcome to school to catching the bus to school you're never going to see a pair of walk someone up and that's where it becomes challenging and with those I think it's important to
• 18:00 - 18:30 have dialogue with other expert teachers as to how we engage the parents of particular children any students are struggling I think it's important to be open and honest with families as well and to give them a call and see well this is what I'm experiencing you know your child best can you give me any advice on how to engage them do they have any trigger points and you definitely don't want to leave that till report time and parent-teacher interviews you don't want to go inside anyone but on the other side of that
• 18:30 - 19:00 you're also going to call home to celebrate achievements you know there's a lot of um we call home to Mum and Dad when something's not right but what about when something is going on and those kids that are also achieving as well we need to celebrate them too so yeah let's fantastic intensity we like to think here that nothing we should come as a shock to the parents when yeah I mean for their parent-teacher interviews and they should be wellbridge on everything absolutely and I love that
• 19:00 - 19:30 inclusion of the celebrations as well in there sometimes we only focus on the negative yes oh that's very important challenges one of the key challenges do you anticipate you might experience in your role as a Peter 12 teacher I think the unknown is probably the most challenging so on placement you you sort of experience only this sort of little
• 19:30 - 20:00 you're in this little bubble you've got a mentor you've got support there and you know that it can be some something someone's going to sort of come in and pick that up but when you go out on your own you can be quite daunting there's no one there shadowing you I suppose but the challenges would definitely be always think of the families I think for me that would be the biggest challenge in so how you engage them so you have all these wonderful ideas and that's great that there's still that idea that maybe
• 20:00 - 20:30 you're letting someone down because it is someone's child and ultimately that's fun and sent up of their mind so for me that is the biggest challenge not letting anyone down but also possibly this work like that you hear so much in the media and the expectations and the pressures that are put on teachers is definitely a thought that I have as well but that's where I hope to you know use
• 20:30 - 21:00 the people around me who have experience they've been there of the idea of going into knowing everything is not realistic and nice and um you know I think you're spot-on and drawing on the expertise that others have learned and it's really important that you use the people around you and I understand that your specialist area is mathematically if we ask you to take up the roles and numeracy Support Officer within the school how do you think you would
• 21:00 - 21:30 support your colleagues so just coming out of university one thing is I have those theoretical concepts right the center of my mind they're probably the things that are most comfortable there because that's what I've been doubling in for the last couple of years so they will play a key part now we my colleagues were able to have those dialogues in - what is it that students need have a look at existing processes in place in the school see if we can implement things like open-ended maths activities how doing going to get there
• 21:30 - 22:00 engage the students with tuning in activities and also what is it that staff need support with so I'm coming in as a math specialist I can look at my classroom but I also want to see what other maths teachers are doing and collaborate so we're all essentially on the same page and we're all able to tap into the resources that each individual heads yeah so I guess again that's where
• 22:00 - 22:30 those relationships really matter - because you want people you trust be open so that's yeah that's really important and I suppose again a nice opportunity to look at the data and see ya the existing data perhaps that might give you some insights to yeah absolutely aren't aspects something you receive at ninety s initial attention yeah from there you can pick up and focus on key areas and you create you know you can create plans so things that we need to focus on now and also a bit of a trajectory as to what things what
• 22:30 - 23:00 we want them to look like how we might get there and what that plan yeah setting goals becomes a new doesn't it and look thank you very much it's been really interesting sitting and talking to you and you know you bring a lot of strengths to us here I'm wondering if you have any questions for me about undertaking the role here at at this Peter 12 school absolutely so I suppose as a graduate and a novice teacher all
• 23:00 - 23:30 need support and I was just wondering what does your program look like for a graduate teacher well we do highly value our graduate teachers and the mentoring process so you would be assigned a mentor teacher and we would expect you to meet regularly with that teacher of course your initial workload will be like given that it's a graduate position we would expect in those meetings that you know can we discuss with you men to
• 23:30 - 24:00 any of their challenges that you're experiencing as long as well as the successes that you're having um we will certainly try to make sure your mentoring teacher is someone in your particular field so that's a common a common set of expertise maybe you can share there we also would hope in that mentoring process that we would begin to help you over time to get ready for you moving from your provisional registration to your permanent registration but also to in your
• 24:00 - 24:30 teaching we work very collaboratively here in teaching teams and so we would expect that you would gain the support of your colleagues in the teaching teams that you're a part of undertaking training sessions with them and so as well as of course any leadership support within the school we'd like you to things that you can come and see us at any time if you have any concerns and of course there's a range of specialist positions within the
• 24:30 - 25:00 school so if you are struggling with our students then you would see the teacher there so the leader within the school who is in charge of student welfare etc so all of those types of levels of support would be available to your son excellent do you have one more question just thinking of the school in particular what school-wide approaches or strategies do you have in place in
• 25:00 - 25:30 relation to student behavior and teaching laws yes well we do follow an approach which is you know an acronym which is pride and that's it that attempts to address five key areas the first one is perseverance we try and build that as a capability in our students we see that that is really important and so all the teaching approaches and the learning experiences that we provide for our students holds
• 25:30 - 26:00 that as an end goal for our students we also work on the importance of respect and you mentioned that very strongly in your response to the questions we want to see our teachers respected but we also want to see teachers respecting students and students respecting and other students and so that's really important in our planning we also have in value integrity strength our willingness to admit when you've made a mistake a lot of those sorts of things become important and so we expect
• 26:00 - 26:30 students to see models of that and the teachers around them but we also expect teachers to celebrate when they see that quality doing Australia by students we want to see dedicated teamwork amongst our students so we expect teamwork and cooperative learning to be an essential part of the planning and learning experiences and you've mentioned that that seems to fit perfectly with your teaching approach so that's a big tick and of course we always strive for
• 26:30 - 27:00 excellence with our students so that's the acronym pride and excellence means that we hold expectations for every student we don't lower them several students every student has that right that to know that teachers have confidence in them and expect the best of them in terms of teaching and learning a lot of the things that you've said are embodied in the in the approach that we espouse at the school we follow a model of teaching where we really
• 27:00 - 27:30 value initially tuning in with our students now you mentioned that very strongly in your second area prodigy but it's also something that we strongly implementing the primary where we recap as you said we have very clear learning intentions that are stated right throughout the school and different classes and we make very clear to the students the success criteria what they have to be able to do and I wanted to feel that they've had an achievement in that particular area
• 27:30 - 28:00 we value differentiation in learning and you've touched on that so that's really important to us explicit teaching we think that's really important not making assumptions that students know information and giving students the opportunity to actually apply their learning in authentic real life situations that's that's critical we think and then of course giving the students time for reflection but not just giving them time but valuing it yeah and using it as a way for teachers
• 28:00 - 28:30 to assess their level of understanding all they taking away from the sessions that we've had with them and as you said before teacher and student assessments so that's that's critical and I suppose that taught that reflection actually leads to further planning what deal is next what do our students need what is the curriculum demand of us how can we build on what we've done with the students to make sure that the next stage of learning is really meaningful so much of what the approach that we
• 28:30 - 29:00 take at the school was certainly reflected in your comments about your own teaching approaches so you know nice feet there yeah any other questions that you have no that's it thank you very much for coming along we'll get back to you in the future hopefully shortly to give you a decision about you know this position right thank you so much for your time