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It’s a vital, often decisive, part of the interview
. Here’s
what one head teacher said about why she wanted to see
a lesson:
For teaching posts (and senior posts to be
honest), the key is the quality of the person’s
teaching. Being a really good teacher and (for
more senior roles) understanding how to
develop people into good teachers is vitally
important.
The lesson to be taught at interview may
sometimes only last for 30 minutes – I’d stress
being prepared for the length of lesson they
tell you and being prepared to change tack if
you find the students are either ‘getting it’
quickly, or just don’t ‘get it’. This is so tricky
when you don’t know the children or the
school, but being able to be flexible and to
respond
to the students’ learning is very
important.
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IT’S ABOUT HOW YOU COPE
Everyone knows that the demonstration lesson places you
in a difficult and untypical position. What matters is how
well you are prepared and how flexible and agile you are
at dealing with the unexpected.
PREPARING YOUR LESSON
As with all lessons, and also with every aspect of your job
application, preparation is the key. To begin with, try to
find out answers to the following – some you will certainly
be given, others you might have to ask about, but they’re
all valid questions.
■
What you’ll have to teach.
■
The length of the session.
■
How it fits into the normal scheme of work
– what came before.
■
Nature of the group – number, age, ability.
■
Children with special needs (including gifted and
talented).
■
The discipline and reward policy as you’re able to
apply it.
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■
Available resources.
■
Expectations about the use of ICT.
■
Other adults you’re expected to involve
– teaching assistant (TA), special educational
needs (SEN) coordinator, assistant technician.
Then you can prepare a lesson that you can deliver in a
way that’s familiar and comfortable. It ought to be clear to
you, from all your research, and your visit to the school,
what styles of pedagogy will be accepted. If you want to
take risks with a more unusual lesson, that may work in
your favour, but rehearse it with a class in your own school,
and have a good plan B ready.
NAMES ARE VERY IMPORTANT
Try to establish a seating plan, with names, before you
start. If you can arrange it so you walk in and tape it to the
desk in front of you, or have it on your tablet, you’ve won
a small victory. Being able to use names right away is
empowering and impressive both to the children and to
observers.
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RESOURCES
Take nothing for granted. Take your own stuff – paper,
pencils, whatever the children are likely to ask for. Prepare
good, professional-looking support resources on big sheets
of paper – showing key words, pictures, graphs. Either use
them from the start, or keep them in reserve if the ICT
doesn’t work.
Prepare tasks that will include the range of abilities.
If your lesson will be in a science lab or design and
technology (D&T) room, make friends with the technician
– he/she can make all the difference for you.
ICT
Many schools are very focused on ICT. There’s likely to be
a digital whiteboard, or a projector. The class you’re going
into may be equipped one-to-one with tablets. Whether
they are or not, remember the mantra – which you may
well want to use in your interview or in the follow-up to
your lesson: ‘It’s not about technology and devices; it’s
about teaching and learning and whether the technology
can help with that.’
Of course, you may feel you have to use technology to
demonstrate your familiarity with it. But make sure it’s a
natural choice for what you’ve planned, will enhance
learning, and isn’t just done for show.
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In any case, be prepared for ICT meltdown. Nothing’s
worse than seeing a teacher fiddling with the technology,
making apologetic noises while the class twiddle their
thumbs, or become restless. Best give up quickly and move
smoothly to plan B which is technology-free. The rule is,
‘Prepare as for a power cut.’
THE SHAPE OF THE LESSON
Your demonstration lesson must have structure. In
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