Dive Brief:
- Schools are changing along with the expectations for teachers and students, which means administrators should shift their interview questions to get at the skillsets the best teachers of today will need.
- According to eSchool News, administrators should ask about strategies for professional growth, not just current expertise, and questions that ask how teachers get students to be self-directed learners, coming up with their own questions and figuring out how to go beyond the teacher's lessons.
- The best teachers will be able to describe how they tie their lessons to real-world situations and how they develop relationships outside of the school building, curating a global perspective that contributes to internal improvement.
Dive Insight:
For years, teachers were asked to be good classroom managers, teaching students how to listen, behave, and keep quiet while memorizing facts that would help them get good grades and test scores.
A backlash against rote memorization and a rise in technology tools that expand the classroom learning environment to a global scale have contributed to a preference for more interactive, engaging lessons where students have more power.
The Common Core State Standards and those like them emphasize project-based learning, which many charter schools have embraced in their missions. Teachers are increasingly being asked to guide students along a learning path, rather than recite information. Schools that want to keep up, giving students the skills that will prepare them for college and career, can start with hiring decisions and make sure professional development is high-quality and regular.