How to Answer: Do you believe you should build rapport with students? If yes, how?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Elementary Teacher job interview.
16. Do you believe you should build rapport with students? If yes, how?
How to Answer
Building relationships is a key aspect of teaching. Students must like and respect you as a teacher and feel like they belong to feel fully invested. Rapport is an important aspect of influencing others. Explain how you build rapport with students and end your response with how this benefits students. You may want to consider building classroom culture, trust, or a sense of belonging amongst students.
Written by Audra Kresinske on August 22nd, 2021
Answer Example
"Absolutely, rapport is essential. Students respond to teachers when they feel like the teacher really cares and has a genuine connection with them. I build rapport with them by getting to know the people in their lives during one-on-one talks. Every week, on two different days, I assign an independent activity to the class, and during that time, I chat with each student for about five minutes. I take that time to get to know them individually to know they aren't just an anonymous face in a class of thirty kids. The students usually do better because they have a direct line of communication with me."
Written by Audra Kresinske on August 22nd, 2021