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SUGGESTED BASIC INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
1. LEADERSHIP, ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT AND RELATED EXPERIENCE
1.1 Briefly discuss some of the positions of leadership you have held and indicate
how they have equipped you for the post for which you have applied
1.2 What are the most important leadership skills you think a Departmental
Head/Deputy Principal/ Principal should possess?
1.3 What position of control and administration have you held to suggest you are
equipped for this post?
1.4 What goals would you set for our school and how would you go about
implementing them?
1.5 How would you involve all role players in decision-making e.g. care of school
equipment, dress code, discipline, extra-curricular activities?
1.6 What steps would you take to improve educator morale/commitment at your
school?
1.7 This school is poor and under resourced. What ideas do you have to improve the
situation?
1.8 Given the cut-backs in education, what ideas/plans do you have to keep a poorly
resourced school operational?
1.9 In your career how have you dealt with teachers whose students have not
performed well?
1.10 Describe briefly how you would go about motivating teachers to demonstrate
initiative in their work?
1.11 How would you go about getting teachers who do not have a friendly relationship
to work in harmony with each other?
1.12 How would you proceed in arriving at a decision on a thorny issue, e.g. school
fees, large class sizes, shortage of classes and furniture, admission of learners?
VIVA NATU VIVA!!!
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2. ORGANISATIONAL ABILITY AND EXPERIENCE
2.1 Outline briefly why you applied for this post considering the new challenges facing
senior management in schools?
2.2 Give details of how you planned and organized some professional activity over
the past two years and role you played in its success?
2.3 Taking into account your organizational experience, how would you handle the
problem of a lack of resources in your school?
2.4 What are some of the important factors in establishing the educator establishment
of a school and how will you go about determining excess educators?
2.5 What do you understand by delegation and what are some of the principles of
effective delegation?
2.6 What steps would you take to improve the level of commitment of educators at
your school?
2.7 What role do you see the principal playing in promoting and developing good
school governance?
2.8 There are many ways to raise funds. What are some of the important
considerations for successful fund-raising?
2.9 How would you plan and develop a budget for your department/school?
3. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND INSIGHT
3.1 Do you perceive a problem in respect of the culture of teaching and learning?
What methods would you use to turn it around/improve the situation?
3.2 What have you done to promote COLTS?
3.3 Outline in general terms what you see as the main challenges facing the Deputy
Principals/ Principals in respect of encouraging an ethic of teaching and learning?
3.4 What are some important measures and strategies you would utilize to promote
professional development in your staff?
VIVA NATU VIVA!!!
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3.5 How would you go about inducting new staff members to your school?
3.6 What steps would you take to improve the results of your school?
3.7 What mechanisms would you consider to address the culture of learner
indiscipline at your school?
3.8 Comment on some recent developments in education, focusing particularly on
those having an influence on school management.
3.9 What do you understand by school development?
4. LEADERSHIP: COMMUNITY RELATED
4.1 Give details of how you planned and organized some community events over the
past two years and the role you played in its success.
4.2 What initiatives would you take to build capacity in parents as contained in SASA?
4.3 To what extent would you involve all role players in decision-making at your
school?
4.4 How important is community involvement for the SMT? Does your own community
involvement meet the standards you have identified? Discuss.
4.5 Why in your opinion is parent involvement an important consideration in staff
selection and promotion?
5. PERSONALITY AND HUMAN RELATIONS
5.1 what do you regard as your single most important attribute and indicate how this
attribute will help you to function effectively in the post you have applied for?
5.2 What are the most important skills and attributes do you think a leader should
possess?
5.3 Recall a person in education who has had a positive influence on your career.
Explain briefly how and why this person influenced your career?
5.4 How would you go about promoting and developing vibrant COLTS in your
school?
5.5 Describe briefly your involvement in a case requiring your guidance and pastoral
support to a colleague and how that experience could enable
VIVA NATU VIVA!!!