Fresh Teaching Assistant Interview Questions & Answers:

1. How you handle a crowd of students?

The teaching assistant is quite near to the students themselves when it comes to age. Therefore, the interviewer will first have to assess whether you can or cannot handle a crowd of students. Again, focus on your ability to work with your previous employer(s). If you have led any youth groups or have any counselor/teaching experience, draw on that.

2. Teaching Assistant about School interview questions:

► Why do you want to work at this school?
► What experience can you bring to the school?
► What do you know about our school?
► How can you support the provision of extra-curricular activities at our school?
► What do you think about our school ethos and rules?

3. Teaching Assistant Teaching and supporting interview questions part 2:

► How do you think children learn best?
► How can you encourage reluctant readers?
► Do you have any creative ideas for helping pupils who are struggling with numeracy?
► Do you have any interesting ideas of how we can display children's work?
► How would you feedback to a pupil who gets the right answer?
► How would you respond to a pupil who gave a partially correct answer?
► How would you feedback to a pupil who gave an incorrect answer?
► How would you support a pupil who was struggling with a specific task?
► What activities do you enjoy doing most with children?

4. Teaching Assistant Teaching and supporting interview questions part 1:

► How could you support pupils reading?
► How can you tell whether children have learnt something during the task they've just completed?
► Does learning have to be fun?
► How can we try and engage a demotivated pupil?
► What ideas can we try to help a pupil who is struggling compared to their peers?
► Do you have specific knowledge in any area for example a second language or a love of maths - if so how could you use it in the classroom?
► How can we assess what pupils have learnt?
► Is it important to assess learning? Why?
► What makes a good lesson?
► How can we stretch our most gifted and talented learners?

5. Teaching Assistant communication and managing difficult situations interview questions:

► Do you think you would be able to effectively communicate with parents?
► How would you manage conflict with colleagues or parents?
► What would you do if a pupil was disruptive in class?
► How would you respond if a pupil didn't do as you asked them to?
► Tell us about a time when you were with a group of children and something went wrong, how did you remedy the situation?
► What would you do if a child complained they were bored?
► What would you do if a child didn't understand what they were supposed to be doing?
► What would you do if two children were constantly talking and giggling and disrupting the class?
► A group of pupils are angry and upset following a playground dispute. It's affecting the lesson, what would you do?
► Tell us about a time you had to use your own initiative to rescue a difficult situation?

6. Teaching Assistant experience and personality interview questions:

► What's your experience of working with children?
► Why do you enjoy working with children?
► What experience could you bring from previous posts to your work at this school?
► Do you find it easy to communicate with children?
► Can you tell us about a time when you effectively worked as part of a team?
► Are you good at organizing yourself and other people?
► Can you tell us about a time you successfully worked with a group of children?
► How do you think you could use your creative skills in the classroom?

7. Teaching Assistant responsibilities interview questions:

► Why you want to be a teaching assistant?
► Why do you think you would be a good teaching assistant?
► What do you think the role of a teaching assistant is?
► What do you think will be the main activities you will do each day as a teaching assistant?
► Why do you think the role of the teaching assistant is important?
► Do you think you would find a teaching assistant role fulfilling? Why?
► What do you think would be the challenges you would face in this role?
► What do you think would be the highlights of the job?
► Why do you want to be a teaching assistant?

8. Teaching Assistant skills and core competency interview questions part 3:

► How would you motivate a child with special education needs who doesn't want to participate in the classroom?
► Give an example of a lesson gone wrong and how you reacted to it
► Tell me about a time when you have had to deal with a problem child and what action you took. What was the result?
► When have you had to overcome a challenging situation?
► What would you do if a parent walked up to you in the street and asked questions about their child?
► What would you do if a child swore at you when you walked into school?

9. Teaching Assistant skills and core competency interview questions part 2:

► How would you handle noisy and bad behavior at lunchtime?
► What is the difference between the noisy and bad behavior?
► If a child tells you he/she is being harmed by someone from outside school, what would you do?
► How could you support children's reading?
► How would you liaise with class teachers and parents?
► How do you organize your lessons and time?
► What makes a good lesson?
► How do you react to a child who doesn't follow your instructions?
► Give an example of your leadership abilities
► What types of assessment do you use?

10. Teaching Assistant skills and core competency interview questions part 1:

► What makes a good lesson plan?
► What do you think the children have learned from you 30-minute lesson exercise?
► How do you respond to children who give a correct answer?
► How do you respond to children who give a partially correct or incorrect answer?
► What is your knowledge of child protection?
► Can a teacher keep a secret with a child relating to child abuse?
► Give an example of when you have had to use your own initiative
► What would you do if a child didn't understand what they were supposed to be doing?
► How do you think children learn best?
► Does learning have to be fun?