3 Questions to ask at an International Teaching Job Interview as a BAME Teacher

Must-ask questions to ensure you are heading to the right school for you.

This article can be downloaded as an easy-to-read pdf for easy reference for free here.

Contents

1. Why your questions are the most important part of any interview

2. The 3 questions and their value

3. What to do with the answers

1. Why your questions are the most important part of any interview

Though interviews can traditionally be thought of as your chance to impress and build rapport with the school, it’s important that we also view it as a chance for the school to sell itself to us.

You may have already read the 10 questions all teachers should be asking at an international teaching job interview. We present these questions as a necessary addition for BAME teachers.

Professional expectations teach us to believe that we’ll be given all the critical information during the interview, but why leave this to chance? Basic information will often be volunteered during an interview, but we are all unique. There is critical information needed by BAME teachers which may not always be volunteered by recruiters and interviewers.

Here is a breakdown of why your questions are the most important:

1. They prove that you are taking the interview and potential role at the school seriously, not simply as a point of curiosity. This advice is often offered by recruitment agencies, especially during recruitment fairs where interviews are easier to secure.
   
2. You can ensure that topics which are important to your experience at the school are made clear and discussed deeply to support making your decision.
   
3. Preparing questions can raise your confidence for an interview and subsequently improve your self-presentation. This is because the overall dynamic shifts power into your hands as you have a focus and are more critical during the exchange.
   
4. Your questions are part of your personality — demonstrate to the interviewer what your priorities are, hopefully making it easier for both of you to decide whether the school is a good fit for you and vice-versa.
   
5. The same as good responses, good questions can lead to memorable moments in interviews. These moments can leave a mark on the interviewer, helping you to stand out from other applicants — teaching is a human job, and if your CV and qualifications have got you to the interview stage, asking questions can be what makes you the first choice.
   
6. Hearing responses to critical questions about your concerns and topics related to your safety and experience as a BAME teacher can greatly raise your confidence and also set the bar for the relationships you have with the leadership team if you win the position.

2. The 3 questions and their value

It is important to state that for all the questions below, you want to ask for specific answers and examples when receiving a response. Vague answers can be a bad sign, especially where they do not provide an opportunity to clarify later i.e ‘I will try and email you about that once I double-check’.

The questions do not need to be used in this exact form but represent three major areas that may lead to revealing conversations useful to BAME applicants.

• 1. Is it possible to be put in direct contact with teachers currently at the school? Is there a Equity-adjacent Coordinator or committee?

An easy first question to ask if the school has not already presented this option. As discussed in my article here, any resistance to such a request is an immediate red flag. Conversely, the conversations which may be borne from this communication may be invaluable in your final decision. Pro tip — Try to make contact through live chat outside of school hours rather than a school email; this gives the person you are in contact with more freedom with their answers.

• 2. What is the turnover of staff like at your school at the moment, what about BAME members of staff? Do you know why it is at this level?

A strong and targeted question which is not unexpected by most experienced schools. The key point here is their awareness of the experiences of members of staff and also whether they are doing anything to improve the situation or maintain the positive situation.

• 3. What is diversity like at the school and how are families selected to join the school community?

This question may take many forms depending on your interest and concerns. There are many lead-on questions concerning the dynamic of the school discussed in point 4 of my article here. Gauge the interviewer’s reaction to the question and try to get a feel for how inclusive the school is based on their responses.

3. What to do with the answers

The 3 critical questions may open up a wealth of conversation and support you in many ways. But that does not mean we shouldn’t be critical. Remember that the conversation and the reality are unlikely to perfectly align. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions above but consider how the responses make you feel and try to paint the bigger picture. Read deeply into the answers to receive and critically compare them to any other research you have completed to build a response to the question ‘is this school and location right for me?’.

I wish you the best of luck and would love to hear any critical questions you always ask to support your research into potential roles.

*Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic. For the purposes of these articles, I have opted to use the term BAME in order to encompass the people who are most greatly affected by the challenges addressed. I also use terms such as ‘global majority’ and ‘people of colour’ but for the sake of familiarity in a British context and the focus on the experiences of people whose teaching careers have been situated in Europe and the West where White Caucasian is the majority, I felt that BAME was most applicable. Not all people identify with this label and I do not see it as the definitive or only option but it is my chosen term for this context.