Teacher versus Me

So I said I'd post the list of questions my advisor & I came up with as possibilities for my most recent interview...

Teacher

1. How have your studies prepared you so far?

2. Why do you think you will be a successful teacher?

3. How would you like the children to describe you?

4. Give an example of how you have dealt with a difficult issue.

5. Should schools provide extracurricular activities or leave it to the parents?

6. National Curriculum dimension of the course - how do you feel about teaching it all?

*A mention of teaching P.E. (as well as other subjects) in one question.*

7. How would you go about teaching ... issue?

*I had to do a short teaching exercise.*

8. What would you do in ... situation (e.g. identifying a dyslexic child in your class)?

*I was asked how I'd deal with misbehaving children in class.*

9. What are you not good at (to show self-awareness)?

10. Tell me about an experience with teachers/pupils that went well (how & why).

Me

1. Question about current educational issues/debates.

*Our written task was based around this.*

2. How will you make Science interesting/accessible?

*I was asked what I'd do to make it memorable & how to engage young minds.*

3. Personal statement based question(s).

*Three in total (musical instrument, learning Italian, Science/History interest).*

So I make that about 2 & a half to Teacher (out of 10 - so 25%) and 2 & a half to Me (out of 3 - 83%)... A resounding success!!

All very helpful suggestions though; please feel free to use this as advice if you're preparing for a PGCE interview at the moment. I'm in a mood for sharing someone else's wisdom!

"How was the interview then?!"

So, how did it go? Not awfully. Not 100% confidently amazing. Yes, I'm sitting on the fence! We don't find out for another couple of weeks so it's quite hard to gauge...

But here's how the day was laid out:

1) Short written task
We had to write about a current educational issue; its key points and how it would affect us as new teachers. Perfect, I'd been reading the TES as well as the BBC and Guardian websites for the past few weeks! Only... When it came down to it I just went blank. I sat there staring at the paper for a good five minutes before I started writing anything - and that's out of a total of 10 minutes for the task! But in the end I went with the story about the phonics tests using made up words, as that's the only story I could remember with any detail. Let's just say it wasn't my finest piece of writing ever.

2) Group scientific enquiry
We were given a bag of different sized balls and asked to come up with ideas about how we could use them in lessons. Here are some of the ideas we came up with together:

• Solar system - to show the order of the planets (My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming) & their relative sizes, planet orbits (drawn on playground or a child in charge of a 'planet' out on the field).
• Forces - gravity (Galileo experiment), speed & flying.
• Sounds - different materials making the balls make different sounds when hit; cross reference to Music.
• Exercise - use the football for an exercise/pulse rate investigation; catching/reflexes.
• Materials & their properties - identifying what materials made the balls, sink/float, bounciness.

I think I contributed a decent amount to that discussion (when I could get a word in) - I'm very glad I decided to read up on the National Curriculum for Science beforehand! At least helpful for some inspiration.

3) Individual interview

Well this I much preferred to the hideous group 'interview' I had at Bath Spa! A much friendlier atmosphere, a comfy chair - and proper interview questions.

• Asked about Bath Spa interview & if they gave me reasons for their rejection. Torn between lying (saying no) and telling everything - in the end I just mentioned the "purpose of education" thing, and how I didn't know where they got that from.
• Why go from Human Genetics to teaching Primary Science? Basically for me that's because I'm not a lab person! Learning is my passion and I want to encourage that in others.
• What will you do to engage young minds in Science? I said I'd like to make it an event, do as many [fun] experiments as possible to make it memorable - as well as showing a practical application so they know it is relevant.
• What are the downsides of teaching? I started with the route into it - getting onto a PGCE course is competitive, and the course itself is very hard work. Once you get into the job you have to consider the pastoral side as well as teaching.
• A little bit of 'teaching' - explain day & night using a globe. After a bit of a false start, it was basically day = light, light shines on country means it's daytime, the Earth spins as day goes on, when the UK is on the opposite side to the light it's night, night = no light. I actually turned the globe clockwise and pointed out that I didn't think I'd turned it the right way, so my interviewer did some teaching as well! (From what I heard back from my fellow interviewees they managed to confuse themselves about that a bit too!)
• How would you deal with misbehaving children in a lesson? Somehow I came up with a few suggestions: make something of it/draw attention to the child, ignore them (stop reinforcement), write names on the board (indicating later punishment), ask them to go out of the classroom and talk to them later... My interviewer suggested getting them involved - a much more positive way to deal with it, and something I should really have thought of, given the education psychology books I've been reading!
• Personal statement related questions - piano playing, learning Italian and interest in History & Science.
• Asked if I'd done any regular sporting activities - helping at a school or otherwise. Well, I've not done any regular sport since college when I played squash (more into the cheaper option of running), but always loved competitive team games at school so no problem in teaching them.
• Where do you see yourself in five years? I don't like these kind of questions - I'm not one who tends to plan that far ahead! So obviously I said "teaching". Settled eventually for "probably around here, given debts & money issues, not minding being in a big or small school".

And that was it! All done by about 11.30am. Back home for lunch!!

Happy Interview Eve!

Tomorrow then.

I'm definitely nowhere near as anxious as the last time, but I have been full of cold for the past few days - and still coughing now! Oddly enough, in some ways I think it's actually helped. It meant I didn't spend the whole weekend madly reading and making a ridiculous amount of notes (and generally working myself up into a frenzy); I relaxed and rested myself up instead. The only thing I did was a leetle bit of reading - this week's edition of the TES, and the BBC & Guardian websites. Quite easy to do when you have a cold! Admittedly I probably shouldn't have put myself through work the last couple of days, but the feeling of guilt at landing my colleagues in it would make me feel a lot worse than a poxy cold. Besides, I would've only got bored and not really gotten a huge amount better! So better to keep going as normal!

Getting nervous now. Not debilitating or anything, a healthy amount, but more in my usual style of not being bothered to go (well I will have to get up at 6.30!) and thinking about the prospect of mixing with a load of people I don't know. I'm not the best in social situations such as this, but I am getting much better! That's another reason why the group interview at Bath Spa was so unsuitable for me - shyness & an uncontrollable group dynamic don't mix well. Oil & water I'd suggest...

So what have I done to prepare? It's for a Primary Science specialism, so I've given myself a rough idea of the KS1 & 2 Science curriculum - hoping something from it will come up in the "group scientific enquiry" which I shall be participating in tomorrow, but I've been given (hopefully reliable) tactics in the event of something completely leftfield: aims & inclusion. Seems simple in theory, doesn't it?! I've also tried to keep up with recent educational news (aforementioned sources), not that much major has gone on in the Primary side of things - but I'm ready should they want to talk about calculator use or phonics tests! (I think...) I've thought of potential questions and attempted to answer a set of questions suggested to me; I'll post the list after the interview and tell you how many were anticipated between me & a working teacher!!

I also went back into a Primary setting for the first time since September. It may only have been for an afternoon, but it shows that at least I'm trying to fit that in along with the responsibility of work. We did maths, literacy & a bit of PHSE, so quite a full schedule for a couple of hours! Also still trying to come up with the perfect experiment for National Science Week... And finally I had a proper sit-down chat with my Sixth Form advisor on Friday - to give me some reassurance as much as anything else! I remain hugely grateful for all the support I've been given so far.

That seems about it... How these 3 weeks have flown by! I can't really believe that it's tomorrow! And despite the continuing cold & coughing I have been instructed to sparkle - and definitely NOT to go for the sympathy vote! Repeat to self: I am resilient, I am resilient, I am resilient...