Art Teacher Interview Questions
If you’re about to be interviewed or you’re a head of department who is going to be doing the interviewing, you’ll find the questions below useful. As an interviewee, you can’t anticipate every question but if you write down answers to the questions below, you’ll certainly fly through a good part of the interview. Writing the answers down will help you remember them. There is a link at the bottom of the post so that you can download these questions if you wish.
Before Your Answer The Questions
Before you answer the questions below, think about what special skills and talents you have. What makes you the most appropriate candidate for the job? What great experiences and successes have you had that you want to tell them about. I’ve always gone into an interview thinking ‘I’m not leaving without telling them about x, y and z.’ Try to work your special skill set and strengths into your answers.
- What three words describe you?
- Why do you want to work at this school?
- What characteristics make an effective and successful lesson?
- How do you use technology in the art room?
- Describe a successful lesson you’ve taught recently.
- Describe an unsuccessful lesson you’ve taught recently and how you would do it differently next time.
- What is your biggest strength?
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Can you give an example of how you have contributed to whole school life?
- How would you manage a student who was not on task?
- How do you manage behaviour in your classroom?
- How do you ensure the most able/ least able achieve in your lessons?
- Explain how you differentiate in the classroom.
- What makes a good teacher?
- What makes a good art teacher?
- Why is art important?
- How do students know they belong when they are in your classroom?
- What is the best team you have worked in and what role did you play?
- What would you do for a lesson with only scissors, paper and tape and no lesson plan?
- What’s the difference between a good and outstanding lesson?
- How do you engage boys in art?
And of course…
- Do you have any questions for us?
Make sure you’re armed with a question that shows you’ve done your research about the school. If your prepared question has already been addressed within the interview simply say that you were going to ask about ‘X’ but that they’ve already answered that question. Or have more than one question. If you didn’t get the opportunity to share some of your special skills and talents within the questioning, be bold and ask if you can share your experience. ‘May I tell you about a particularly successful art club I ran…’ ‘May I tell you about an intervention strategy that I’ve had great success with…’
If you have any interview questions that you’ve been asked that are not listed above please comment below. To download this list of questions in a form ready for you to fill in, please click the image below.
As an Art teacher for over 30 years, I feel there is never enough to learn & update honing my skills. I would like to know what ate some of the most prevalent skills taught today & how can I apply it to my elementary Art lessons grades K-5th?
Wow, what a huge question! I think the answer would depend on what country you teach in. I am a high-school teacher in the UK and have been teaching for 20 years. In the UK lots of different skills are taught and teachers have a huge choice as the national curriculum is very broad. I try to make sure that some sort of drawing, photography, printing and 3D are taught to every year group, every year. Age 15+ the students are a lot more self-directed and can work to their own strengths. If you are looking to broaden your skills there are a large range of Professional Development providers listed here: https://theartyteacher.com/professional-development-for-art-teachers/