A Smart & Good interview: I just got off the phone with a highly respected and award winning middle school educator in our community, he was on his way to participate as a panel member in an interview for a new high school principal. He informed me that he had his copy of the Smart & Good report in his hands and planned to have it out in front of him on the table and refer to it throughout the interview, connecting his interview questions to the concepts found in the report.
His question to me was this: “What (character-based) questions would you ask if you were on this panel?” During this very brief discussion on the phone we talked about forming questions around the culture of the school and the culture of the community, 21st Century Skills as they relate to Performance and Moral Character and how the principal would plan to bridge the strength of the character development work done in the elementary and middle schools that feed into this high school.
It was an energizing and insightful conversation for several reasons. 1) This outstanding champion educator simply “gets it” when connecting character to academics. 2) It reinforces how important it is for an Administrator to have a vision for character development and the impact it has on the school and community and 3) What a great way to embed the numerous strategies found among the top performing high schools in the nation into an interviewing process. I would love to be a fly on the wall to hear the candidates responses.
My questions for you is: What Smart & Good questions would you ask if you were on that interview panel?
