As a teacher, how would you rank these in importance and why: planning, discipline, methods, and evaluation? Of course, when answering this teaching interview question, you want to give an honest and well-thought-out response.
You probably know how you would personally rank these teaching aspects. So it’s okay to go with your instincts and answer the question based on your beliefs. Be prepared to back up why you chose to list them in that order.
It’s critical the response you give to the job interview question is truthful, relevant to the position, and shows value to the school district. The following could be a possible answer, or it may provide ideas for you to tailor your response:
First, I firmly believe that all four of these components are integral to effective teaching. If I had to choose, I think I would rank these as such: planning, methods, evaluation, and discipline.
I believe planning is the most important because it could result in complete chaos in the classroom without it. “To teach successfully, one must plan successfully” is one of my favorite quotes. Planning begins at the beginning of the year when a teacher thinks about what is to be achieved with their class.
This involves reflection on the age, needs, abilities, and interests of the students, discussion of school policy in different subject areas, review of subject matter for the year level, checking of references and resources, deciding upon teaching strategies and methods, determining classroom organization, and selecting evaluation procedures. Because you choose how to implement the other areas in this list during the planning stage, I believe this makes planning the most critical step.
Second, I believe, comes teaching methods. The teaching strategies and techniques that a teacher implements in his/her classroom are fundamental in determining how successful his/her students will be.
The methods you implement are the driving force behind students’ retention levels, achievement levels, engagement levels, interest and motivation, behavior and attention, and will ultimately determine whether they will be successful and enjoy learning.
Third, evaluations are essential for gauging students’ progress and how effective your teaching methods are. Teachers should utilize various evaluation methods just as they should implement a variety of teaching methods.
Without proper evaluations, you will never know how successful you are in reaching your students and helping them to retain lesson concepts.
I decided to put discipline last because if you are doing the first three things correctly, then behavior management shouldn’t be an issue.
If you successfully plan out your lessons, ensuring you are accommodating all your students. If you implement a variety of teaching methods that allow students to actively participate in their learning through a variety of hands-on and fun activities, then students shouldn’t be seeking fun and attention elsewhere.
Ideally, classroom and discipline management need to be part of planning. However, discipline problems will still occur occasionally, and so discipline is necessary for ensuring active learning continues for that student and all other students.
Take the time to check out our job interview questions and answers, classroom management, and teaching tips and techniques in our education career guides.
