Tell me about yourself.

Ninety seconds: what you teach and to which grades, your strongest evidence from the classroom, and why you are applying here. Not your date of birth and your family background.

Why did you choose teaching as a profession?

Answer with a specific origin and a specific reward. A teacher who changed something for you, or the first time a struggling student got there because of something you tried. Avoid "I love children", which every candidate says.

What is your teaching philosophy?

State it in one sentence and then evidence it. For example: every child can reach the standard with the right entry point, so most of my planning time goes into the first ten minutes of a lesson rather than the last ten.

What makes a good teacher?

Subject mastery, the ability to explain the same idea three different ways, consistency, and genuine interest in what a particular child does not yet understand.

Why do you want to work at this school?

Name something specific: the curriculum board, the school's approach to a programme, its size, its student population. Generic praise about a "reputed institution" reads as a template.

What are your strengths as a teacher?

Two, with a classroom example for each. Diagnostic questioning and behaviour consistency are stronger answers than patience and hard work.

What is your greatest weakness?

A real one with a real correction. "I used to over-plan and run out of time, so I now design each lesson around one core objective and mark the optional parts."

How do you keep learning as a teacher?

Name specific things: subject workshops, board training, professional reading, peer observation, an online certification you actually completed.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

A direction: subject expertise, a coordinator or head-of-department role, curriculum design, or a specific board specialisation.

Why are you leaving your current school?

Answer forward. Scope, grade level, curriculum, commute or growth. Never criticise a previous school or principal.

What would your students say about you?

Something specific and honest, ideally with an example of feedback you have actually received.

What would your previous principal say about you?

Pick a trait they would genuinely name, and be ready for the reference check to confirm it.

Walk me through how you plan a lesson.

Start from the learning objective, decide how you will know it was met, then design the activity backwards from that. Objective, hook, instruction, guided practice, independent practice, and a closing check.

What is a learning objective, and what makes a good one?

A statement of what a student will be able to do by the end. It should be specific and observable: "solve two-step linear equations" rather than "understand equations".

What is Bloom's taxonomy and how do you use it?

A hierarchy from remembering through understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. It is used to make sure questioning and assessment go beyond recall.

What is backward design?

Plan the assessment first, then the learning activities that lead to it. It stops lessons that are engaging but do not build toward what is being tested.

What is differentiated instruction?

Adjusting content, process or product for different readiness levels within the same class, while keeping the same core objective for everyone.

How do you handle a class with a wide range of ability?

Common objective, tiered tasks. A core task everyone completes, a scaffold for students who need an entry point, and an extension for those who finish early. Grouping is flexible and changes by topic.

Temporary support that lets a student do something they could not do alone, gradually withdrawn: worked examples, sentence starters, partially completed problems, guided questions.

What is formative assessment?

Checks during learning that inform the next step: exit tickets, mini whiteboards, targeted questioning, quick quizzes. Their purpose is to change your teaching, not to produce a grade.

What is summative assessment?

Assessment of learning at the end of a unit or term: unit tests, term exams, board exams. It measures the outcome rather than guiding the process.

What is the difference between assessment for learning and assessment of learning?

Assessment for learning is formative and shapes instruction. Assessment of learning is summative and reports achievement.

How do you check for understanding during a lesson?

Cold-call questioning across the room rather than hands up, quick written responses everyone shows at once, a two-minute exit ticket, and circulating during independent work to look at actual books.

What is a rubric, and why use one?

A scoring guide with defined criteria and performance levels. It makes marking consistent, makes expectations transparent to students, and makes feedback specific.

How do you give feedback that students act on?

Specific, about the work rather than the child, and tied to one improvement they can make immediately. Then give class time to act on it, or the feedback does nothing.

How do you plan for a substitute or an unplanned absence?

Keep a shared unit plan, a folder of ready cover work per class, and a class list with seating and behaviour notes.

What is inquiry-based learning?

Students investigate a question and construct understanding through the investigation, with the teacher framing the question and guiding rather than delivering the conclusion.

What is project-based learning?

Extended work toward a real product or answer, involving research, iteration and presentation, assessed on process and outcome.

What is the flipped classroom?

Students meet new content before class, usually through reading or video, so class time is spent on application and discussion.

How do you integrate technology into your teaching?

Name specific tools and a specific purpose: a simulation for a concept that is hard to visualise, a quiz tool for instant formative data, a shared document for collaborative writing. Technology for its own sake is not an answer.

How do you make an abstract concept concrete?

Concrete to pictorial to abstract. Physical or visual representation first, then a diagram, then the symbolic form, and explicitly connect all three.

How do you teach a topic you are less confident in?

Prepare more, work from the syllabus document and past papers, anticipate the misconceptions, and speak to a colleague who teaches it well. Say honestly to a class that you will confirm something rather than guessing.

What is a misconception, and how do you address one?

A consistent incorrect understanding rather than a careless error. It is addressed by surfacing it deliberately, confronting it with a counter-example, and re-testing later, not by repeating the correct explanation more loudly.

How do you manage classroom behaviour?

Clear expectations taught explicitly in the first week, consistent and calm responses, positive recognition used more than sanction, and escalation that follows the school's policy rather than my mood.

What do you do in the first week with a new class?

Establish routines: entry, materials, transitions, how to ask for help, how to hand in work. Practise them. Most behaviour problems later in the year are unpractised routines.

A student is persistently disruptive. Walk me through your response.

Non-verbal signal first, then a private word, then a defined consequence per policy, then a conversation to find the cause, then parents and the coordinator. Document each step.

How do you handle a student who refuses to work?

Find out whether it is capability, confidence or something outside the classroom. Reduce the immediate task to something they can start, and deal with the cause separately from the moment.

What do you do if a student is rude to you in front of the class?

Do not escalate publicly. Address the behaviour briefly and calmly, continue the lesson, and deal with it properly afterwards in private and through the school's process.

How do you handle bullying?

Act immediately, ensure the affected student's safety, follow the school's anti-bullying policy, involve the coordinator and parents, and work with the class rather than only with the two students.

How do you keep a class engaged for the full period?

Vary the mode every ten to fifteen minutes, pace the lesson so there is no dead time, and involve everyone through questioning rather than the same five hands.

How do you manage a large class of 45 or more students?

Tight routines, visible seating plan, whole-class response techniques so you get data from everyone, circulate constantly, and pre-plan the transitions, which is where large classes lose time.

What is a positive behaviour system?

A structure that recognises expected behaviour explicitly through praise, points or house systems, rather than relying only on sanctions for behaviour that falls short.

How do you handle latecomers?

Consistent, low-drama entry routine so the lesson is not interrupted, log per policy, and address the pattern privately if it repeats.

How do you manage transitions between activities?

Signal, state the instruction before releasing the class, give a time limit, and practise it. Unmanaged transitions are where most classroom time is lost.

A student has a phone out in class. What do you do?

Follow the school policy exactly and without negotiation in the moment. Consistency is what makes the policy work.

How do you support a student with a learning difficulty?

Work from the individual plan where there is one, adjust presentation and response mode rather than lowering the objective, use scaffolds and extra time, and work with the special educator and the parents.

What is inclusive education?

Every child learns in the mainstream classroom with the support they need, rather than being separated out. The teacher adapts the environment and the task, not the child.

What is an individualised education plan?

A documented plan for a student with specific needs, stating goals, accommodations and review points, agreed with parents and specialists.

How do you identify a student who may have a learning difficulty?

Persistent gap between effort and outcome, a specific pattern such as decoding or number sense rather than general weakness, and difficulties that do not respond to normal support. Then refer, rather than diagnose.

How do you support a gifted student?

Depth rather than more of the same. Extension tasks, harder problems, independent projects, competitions, and mentoring, while keeping them part of the class.

How do you support a student who is falling behind?

Diagnose the specific gap rather than reteaching the whole topic, provide targeted intervention, involve the parents early, and track whether it is closing.

Interview Preparation· August 12, 2026

100+ Teacher Interview Questions and Answers

100+ teacher interview questions and answers for school teaching jobs in India: teaching philosophy, lesson planning, classroom management, assessment, NEP 2020, parent communication, the demo lesson, and questions for freshers and preschool teachers.

By Rohit Goyal

Founder, ResumeGuru · NRI Resume Strategist

100+ Teacher Interview Questions and Answers

A school teaching interview in India has three parts, and candidates usually prepare only the first. There is a personal and philosophy round, a subject and pedagogy round, and a demo lesson in front of a class or a panel. The demo is where most decisions are actually made.

This set covers all three, plus the questions specific to freshers, preschool and primary teachers, and the ones private schools, CBSE and ICSE schools, and government recruitment panels ask. Use it with the interview preparation guide, and check your resume against the teacher resume samples first.