If you’re seeking a teaching assistant position, the interview portion of the hiring process is critical. Teachers’ assistants need to have strong communication and interpersonal skills, which are best evaluated in an in-person setting. Reviewing a list of teacher assistant interview questions can help you feel prepared for the types of questions you might be asked during an interview.
General questions
These questions are intended to help the interviewer understand the candidate’s educational background, interests and personality:
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Walk me through your resume.
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Why do you want to be a teacher assistant?
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What is the greatest strength that you think you bring to this role?
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What do you think is your greatest weakness?
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Why are you interested in working at this school?
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Describe for me how you view the role of a teaching assistant?
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Do you think would you find a teaching assistant position fulfilling? Have you found prior TA positions fulfilling? If yes, tell me in what ways.
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Why do you think a teaching assistant role is important?
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Tell me about what you’re doing to improve your abilities as a teacher assistant.
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What do you expect to be the greatest challenges in this position?
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Tell me what you know about our school and our teaching philosophies.
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What’s your favorite part about working with children?
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Where do you see yourself in the next three to five years?
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What do you think are the most important qualities for a teaching assistant?
Questions about experience and background
These questions are designed to help the interviewer fully understand whether a teacher assistant’s background and experience align with the qualifications they’re looking for in a candidate:
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Tell me about the experience you have working with children.
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Tell me about a time that you worked well as part of a team
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Do you find that you can communicate well with children? What strategies do you use? Do you modify your communication style based on the child? If so, how?
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Do you consider yourself organized? Tell me about the process you use to keep yourself and others organized.
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What strategies have you used in the past when you needed to discipline a child?
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Tell me about a lesson that you successfully taught a child. What strategies did you use?
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What methods have you used in past to motivate the kids in your classroom?
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Have you ever encountered bullying behavior on the playground? What steps did you take to resolve the problem? Is there anything you would have done differently?
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Do you think that learning has to be fun?
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Tell me about a time that you were successful when working with a group of kids.
In-depth questions
These in-depth questions evaluate a candidate’s critical-thinking and problem-solving skills and help the interviewer better understand a candidate’s teaching philosophy.
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What do you think makes a lesson good?
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How would you handle a student if they were being disruptive in class?
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How can you contribute to creating a safe environment for children? Please give me specific examples.
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Do you have any tips or techniques for communicating with parents? Tell me about them.
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What would you do if a child complained to you that they were bored?
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What ideas do you have for helping a child who is struggling in their class?
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What steps would you take to help a child who was a reluctant reader?
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How would you help a child who was struggling with a specific task?
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Tell me about a time that a child or teenager behaved in a manner that caused you to become concerned. What caught your attention? How do you address it? Who else did you involve?
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Tell me about a time that you disagreed with the approach that the teacher took. How did you handle the situation?
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How would you handle a child who was hitting a classmate?
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What strategies do you use to effectively manage your time on the job?
Interview questions with sample answers
Here are two interview questions along with guidance on what makes a good response and samples answers to help you craft your own responses to these questions.
Tell me about a time that you encountered a child who didn’t want to participate in a classroom activity
Children sometimes refuse to participate in activities in the classroom. The interviewer asks this question to better understand your strategies for motivating kids. A great answer is one that talks about how you will positively encourage a child rather than just focusing on negative consequences. Your answer should include steps like finding out why the child is reluctant to participate, offering support where it’s needed and helping the child understand the value behind the activity.
Example: “I would start by sitting with the child one-on-one to find out if there was a specific reason they didn’t want to participate. I would then explain the ultimate purpose behind the exercise and look for ways to overcome their objections and make it fun. If they completely refuse, I generally won’t force them. I would simply offer another alternative that would help them with the same lesson, one that they could do independently and that I think they would also enjoy. I understand that sometimes kids learn in different ways and ultimately my goal is to encourage their love of learning.”
Why do you think you would be the best candidate for this position?
The interviewer may ask this question to better understand what makes you unique as a candidate. A great answer to this question is one that highlights your experience and skills. It’s important to highlight the ones that the job description emphasized was most important.
Example: “I think I’m the best candidate for this role because I have proven experience working with children of different ages and with different backgrounds. That experience has helped me develop my teaching skills and hone my ability to employ a variety of different instructional methods. I also have proven classroom management skills and can modify my instructional style to meet the needs of each individual child.“
