FOR RELEASE: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Education Students Practice Interviewing, Being Interviewed
Above, Amy Ortlieb, left, and Stefanie Earnheart, students in the educational leadership master’s program in the College of Education and Health Professions, discuss an interview they conducted of a teaching applicant during a class project at the University of Arkansas.
Below, Hartzell Jones, deputy superintendent for personnel in the Springdale School District, debriefs students after they took part in simulated interviews for teaching jobs. The master’s students were interviewers, and teacher education students played the part of job applicants.
Job interviews. They can be one of the most important events in the life of a college graduate or someone seeking to change careers. They can be one of the most intimidating and stressful experiences for anyone. They can be an opportunity for one candidate to outshine another whose qualifications look similar on paper.
"Interviewing is a skill," said Paul Hewitt, an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Arkansas. "The more you do it, the better you get at it."
Hewitt joined the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions last fall after a 35-year career in public education in California during which he worked as a teacher, dean of students, assistant principal, principal and superintendent. His areas of expertise are in school finance, budgeting, collective bargaining and school cultures. He coordinates the college's educational leadership program.
Hewitt is teaching a course this spring titled School Personnel Administration and Supervision to graduate students in the educational leadership master's program. He assigned a group project requiring the students to write interview questions and conduct a simulated interview. The class meets each Thursday night.
To recruit interview subjects, Hewitt spoke with seniors in a class taught by LaVonne Kirkpatrick, assistant professor of elementary education.
"We got more volunteers than we could use," Hewitt said. "The students know they will have to go through the interview process, and this was a chance at a no-fault experience. They got feedback and a good understanding of the questions they would face. It was a real opportunity to experience what a real interview would be like."
Tell us a little bit about your background.
What motivated you to want to become a teacher?
What were the qualities of your favorite teacher?
What would a typical day in your classroom be like?
How would you assess a student's level of learning?
How would assessment drive the curriculum?
What barriers to parental involvement do you foresee and how would you overcome them?
What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
Name four qualities that set you apart.
What experience do you have with students who speak English as a second language?
How would you use teachable moments?
How would you respond if a colleague told you a particular child couldn't learn?
How would you use technology in your classroom?
Secondary education majors in the college's Master of Arts in Teaching program also took part in the simulated interviews conducted in classrooms on three floors of the Graduate Education Building in Fayetteville.
In the weeks leading up to the interview session, the graduate students drafted their interview questions and planned how to conduct the interview. Meticulous attention was paid to details: who would ask which questions, how they would arrange the interview table, who would escort the teacher candidate in and out of the room, and which route through the room they would take doing so. They also planned ahead to have bottled water available for the candidate. All these preparations were designed to make the experience seem real and professional and to provide a certain level of comfort for the interviewee.
All of the candidates presented themselves with poise and polish, and they were prepared for the questions to varying degrees. Kelly Powell, a senior elementary education major from Springdale, said afterward she was glad of the opportunity to take part in the exercise.
"I wanted to get my jitters out in a practice setting," she said. "It was very helpful to hear the feedback. I needed to hear some negative things, too. This was very close to how I thought it would go."
Robin Trosper of Rogers, another senior elementary education major, said the students are preparing for preliminary screening interviews with several northwest Arkansas districts this spring. She and Powell graduate in May from the college's four-year elementary education licensure program conducted in partnership with NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. They have been student teaching in Benton County and Springdale this year.
"I didn't realize there would be so many people interviewing us," Trosper said, "but I know there are committees that do hiring nowadays."
The students chatted in the corridors later, comparing their experiences in the hot seat.
"I felt very far away because I was seated at a separate table (from the interviewers)," Trosper said. "There was definitely still pressure even though this was practice."
Other students talked about being placed at a table where they sat beside one of the interviewers and across from the others. The candidate had to make a conscious effort to establish eye contact with each member of the interview team while answering questions.
The graduate students gave the teacher candidates feedback in the form of "glows and grows" once the interview was completed. They recommended that the interviewees use specific examples in their answers as well as the educational language they would use when conversing with teachers and administrators. They said the teacher candidates also should talk about formal data and how they would use it in the classroom to evaluate student learning. They saw a few resumes that were too "fun and frilly" and needed to be more professional. They told the job applicants to send a thank you note to the interviewers.
"We liked the way you rephrased the question as you answered," one interviewer said to the interviewee. "You tied it all together well."
The graduate students were, in turn, critiqued by local educators whom Hewitt had asked to sit in on the interviews.
The College of Education and Health Professions maintains close ties with many education practitioners in the state through its student internships and other collaborative programs. Several northwest Arkansas school administrators teach in the college in adjunct positions.
"I wanted people with hiring responsibilities in their districts," Hewitt said of his evaluation team of practitioners.
Randy Willison, associate superintendent for operations in the Fayetteville School District, joined his colleagues from Springdale, Darrell Watts, principal of Central Junior High School, Marsha Jones, assistant superintendent for curriculum and K-5 instruction; and Hartzell Jones, deputy superintendent for personnel.
Hewitt also provided feedback to both groups of students. In the hallway after one interview session concluded, he gave the students a tip to get themselves noticed.
"When they asked how you would organize your classroom, that was a good time for you to jump up and draw on the chalkboard," he told them. "That enthusiasm could set you apart."
Both groups of students gathered at the end of the evening for a debriefing. All of the practitioners praised the students' performance, but they reinforced some techniques.
"Ask open-ended questions so the candidate can elaborate," Hartzell Jones said. "You want to have a conversation, not an interrogation."
Marsha Jones advised the students to be willing to revise their questions if the answers seem too vague or confusing.
"Interviewing can be a process of adjustment and ongoing monitoring," she said. "You may need to scaffold your questions if they are too broad."
Watts suggested the interviewers ask questions to help them determine whether the candidates have researched their school.
"You try to determine how the teacher will function in a professional learning community, but you also need to find out, 'Do they like kids?' They have to reveal their heart," Watts said.
Willison said school districts handle the hiring process differently. In the Fayetteville district, teacher candidates fill out an online application and staff members check their credentials. Principals can review pools of applicants and, at the high school level, involve the department chair in the interview process.
Stefanie Earnheart, who teaches U.S. and world history at Farmington High School, is a student in Hewitt's class. She said the experience from the other side of the table was quite different from being interviewed. When she interviews someone in the future she would try for a more natural conversation.
"I learned how to streamline my questions so that I will be able to get the responses I need to fit to the job," Earnheart said. "We were so focused on asking every candidate the same questions that we asked very few follow-up questions."
A well-rounded candidate is important, she said.
"You can hire a teacher with all of the knowledge and pedagogy in the world, but if they do not have a good personality, they will not be able to make a connection with the students," Earnheart said. "If this occurs, there is a large probability that the students will have more difficulty learning and possibly will not be interested in learning."
Jeff Hagers, another educational leadership student, teaches Spanish at Bentonville High School. He said he learned about the dynamics of a group interview, including ad libbing from scripted questions. Hagers also noted that, for him, the personal characteristics of a teacher candidate are important.
"Our school relies heavily on collaboration and team planning and assessment," Hagers said. "The cohesion of the team (department) will ensure that the curriculum is being delivered appropriately, equally and effectively."
Hewitt noted that the programs in the college that prepare teachers, administrators and other school personnel collaborate with local educational leaders in the field to provide practical, rich and rewarding experiences for the students.
"I enjoyed tying together groups that may not have come into contact before and doing it in a way that benefited all of us," he said.
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Contact:
Heidi Stambuck, director of communications
College of Education and Health Professions
(479) 575-3138, stambuck@uark.edu