I’ve received lots of messages from followers who will soon be completing PME interviews. I have no experience of these interviews myself as I went straight to Mary Immaculate College after secondary school. But many of my followers are currently completing the PME or have completed it in the past so they kindly sent me some of the questions they were asked/ gave advice based on their experience so I’m putting it all together in a blogpost – hopefully you’ll find something useful!

Your application/personal statement/your passions etc

  • Questions related to the application (know this inside out)
  • Based around personal statement essay/CV
  • Of everyone applying to the course why do you they we should pick you?
  • Talk about a topic of your choice for 1/2 minutes – have something prepared
  • Why do you want to be a teacher
  • Why did you choose Hibernia/Mary Immaculate/Marino etc.
  • Describe a situation where I used my initiative?
  • Why should give you a place if it was the last place on the course?
  • A challenge I overcame in my life
  • Why Teaching?
  • Why teaching now?
  • Tell me about a learning experience that influenced you positively
  • What have I to offer students?
  • Are some teachers better than others?
  • What makes schools different to one another?
  • As part of the team you are in in work, how would your team describe you?
  • Why do you want to change career
  • Tell me about your role as part of a team where you work.
  • How has the school environment changed since you were in school?

The Course

  • How familiar am I with the IT used on the course? Describe the IT I have used to date?

Communication skills

  • Good communication skills (you are marked on this!)
  • How would you communicate in a class room?
  • Different ways of communication (verbal/non verbal cues)

Curriculum

  • Read the intro to the curriculum – importance of education
  • Know information on the primary school curriculum in Ireland
  • New language curriculum
  • Subjects on the curriculum

Teaching/Classroom

  • Traits of a good teacher
  • What makes a good primary teacher?
  • Qualities of a good teacher
  • What did I think would be my strengths as a teacher?
  • What kind of teacher do you want to be?
  • Your favourite teacher in school and why
  • What subject you feel you are weakest at teaching
  • What would I find difficult in classroom
  • If you have any talent you can bring to teaching they may ask how you can apply it to teaching
  • Active learning
  • Do you think it is important to have a good standard of Irish?
  • Classroom Management strategies
  • What type of leadership have you got?
  • If I was to walk past your classroom what would I see?
  • Anything additional you could bring to the classroom that another teacher might not have
  • ICT experience
  • Is being flexible important?
  • What did I see as the biggest challenges in the classroom and school environment?
  • What skills can I bring to the teaching profession?
  • Describe positive experiences that I’ve had in education
  • Challenges in the classroom
  • An Ideal School
  • Technology I use every day and the most important IT resource in the classroom
  • Technology skills: my own skills and how its used in class
  • How the classroom has changed since I went to school
  • What important resources are in a classroom?
  • How did your teachers inspire you
  • Safe use of the Internet
  • What are the disadvantages of technology in the classroom?
  • What would create a good atmosphere in a school?
  • Importance of planning
  • Importance of assessment
  • Importance of differentiation
  • Importance of homework

Colleagues

  • How would I deal with a teaching colleague with whom I had a difference of opinion?
  • How would you deal with a conflict with a co-worker?
  • challenges teachers face
  • working as part of a team and something about someone not pulling their weight
  • how you deal with a difficult staff member
  • how to boost staff moral

Prior experience

  • How does your under graduate degree benefit you in teaching
  • Speak about all prior experience with children
  • Demonstrate what you already know about teaching
  • Pick out a certain moment that stood out to you
  • Experience in the classroom to date (be specific)
  • What skills can I transfer from my past career to the classroom?

Gaeilge

  • For Irish they really focus on your knowledge of the tenses especially future and conditional
  • Nervous for Irish – try to think of it as a conversation (grammar is most important)
  • Common questions – hobbies, family, previous degree, how did you get to the interview, who came with you, what you do in your spare time, they ask questions in all the tenses like past, present, future and conditional so make sure youve your tenses up to date!!
  • Inis dom fút féin
  • Cé atá i do chlann?
  • Carbh as duit?
  • Cén sort áit í?
  • An bhfuil mórán áiseanna i do cheantar?
  • Cá ndearna tú do chéim?
  • Inis dom faoin íarchéim?
  • Cá bhfuil tú ag obair anois?
  • Inis dom faoi
  • Cén fáth go bhfuil suim agam sa mhúinteoireacht?
  • Cén caitheamh aimsire atá agat?
  • Cén clár teilifíse is fearr leat?
  • An imríonn tú aon sport?
  • An maith leat siopadóireacht?
  • An raibh tú thar lear riamh? inis dom faoi
  • Cén tired ab fear leat
  • Céard a cheapann tú faoi _____ mar thaoiseach?
  • Dá mbuafá an Crannchur Náisiúnta cad a dhéanfá?
  • Cad a dhéanfá dá meifá i do thaoiseach?
  • Cad a dhéanfá dá mbeifeá i do phríomhoide i scoil nua?
  • An raibh tú sa Ghaeltacht fós?
  • Cén sort áit í?
  • Cá bhfad a bhí tú ann?
  • Céard faoin lóistín?
  • An raibh bean an tí go deas?
  • Céard faoi na ranganna?
  • Céard faoi muintir na háite?
  • Cén chaoi a bhraith tú ag deireadh an chúrsa?
  • Cén father ar mhaith leat a bheith i do mhúinteoir?
  • Cad iad na tréithe do mhúinteoir maith?
  • Cad iad na deacrachtaí a bhaineann leis an seomra ranga?
  • Cén rang/sórt scoile ar mhaith leat?
  • Cad é do thuairim faoi gaelscoileanna?
  • Conas is féidir le múinteoir daltaí a spreagadh chun Gaeilge a labhairt?
  • An labhraíonn tú Gaeilge? Cathain?
  • An maith leat an Ghaeilge?
  • Cár fhoghlaim tú do huid Gaeilge?
  • An bhfuil an Ghaeilge tábhachtach ar scoil dar leat?

Students

  • How would you engage children?
  • How would I motivate under-performing students?
  • How would I introduce a new topic to the class?
  • What if a child refused to participate in my class
  • How would I motivate a child
  • How to deal with cyber bullying in schools and what a teacher can do to prevent it?
  • How would you deal with a child that was disruptive in the class room.
  • How would you deal with a child that was refusing to cooperate?

Parents

  • How would you communicate with parents about an issue
  • How would you communicate with parents about childrens progress (correcting homework copy and leaving notes was the answer that I gave and she told me that’s the answer she was looking for!)
  • What would you do if a parent wanted to speak to you at 9am?
  • How would you deal with a difficult parent
  • How would you deal with irate parents?
  • What would I do if a parent approached me with concerns that their child was under performing or struggling?
  • What would I do if a parent wanted to take their child out of my class?

Other information

  • The interview is half in Irish and half in English.
  • Show your passion for wanting to teach
  • Show the interviewers how much you want to get into the course and how you’re willing to work to get it
  • Have things to talk about that you could bring to the classroom e.g. music/ sport/ coaching etc.
  • Limerick and Hibernia interviews were the most difficult – extremely formal
  • Pats and Marino Colleges were conversational /relaxed
  • Hibernia interview all happened in the same room – one person did the Irish and one person did the English (They were in two separate rooms for every other college)
  • Read the intro to the curriculum and the INTO Approaches to Teaching and Learning

 

I’ve tried to put the questions together by topic. Thank you so much to everyone who emailed/messaged me on Facebook/Instagram with lists of questions. Best of luck to anyone completing a PME interview!