Why do you want to be an elementary teacher?

job interview at school, done in a classroom. We can see two interviewers, man and woman, probably the principal and his assistant, and a job applicant, a younger woman. The man is holding her resume in hand. Every role has a purpose. Managers manage, artists create, laborers do the hard work, and entrepreneurs give jobs to other people. Teachers, however, have a special position in human society. They lead and form the children in their early age, becoming one of their role models.

This attitude of leading, teaching, and forming the children–in a positive way, should resonate in your interview answer. You can focus on other things besides that, for example your love to children, or your ability to teach.

However, you shouldn’t connect your answer to the past, saying that you would like to teach because you graduated from the college and earned your masters in teaching. That would indicate a must, not a desire. You should  speak with enthusiasm about your teaching mission, showing the interviewers that you know why you applied for this job.

 

Sample answers

Children need role models, and leaders. This is important, especially in young age, when they try to understand the world around them. Many children come from broken families, struggling to find their place in life. I would like to help them to find that place, and can’t really find a better job to follow this calling.

I love to be around children. What is more, I teach well, and I really enjoy teaching. It’s my childhood dream to teach, and now I try to make it reality.

 

five children of different races are holding their hands on the globe. The picture illustrates a multi cultural class at schoolYour non-verbal communication matters

Interviewers do not necessarily have to believe your words. If you smile, however, if you speak with enthusiasm, if you show positive emotions, they will have no reason to have doubts about your attitude to teaching, or about your love to the job and to the children.

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