Evaluating Teacher Applications
Dr. Robert W. Siemens
This particular period of time in American education when there is an over-supply of teachers represents the best opportunity Christian Schools will have to up-grade the professional staff assignments. Seven years ago there were few well-qualified applicants for teaching positions in Christian Schools. Today there are many more applicants than can be accepted. A proper evaluation of teacher applications is essential to obtaining the kind of people Christian Schools need to do a quality job of education. There are several areas that require careful scrutiny in the screening process.
Before a discussion of evaluation of teacher applications it should be made clear that Christian Schools require Christian teachers. Only those who are true Christians by faith and life can be entrusted to assist Christian parents with their God-given responsibilities "to bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Only Christian teachers can set the example and lead the way. Only Christian teachers can teach from a clear Christian perspective.
Many applicants today are desperate for a teaching position. They have found the name of the Christian School in the telephone directory or on some. list of educational institutions in the community or state. It is necessary to make clear to the applicant by way of materials inserted with the application for a teaching position, the cover letter, or in the telephone conversation that this is a Christian School and that Christian teachers are required. This often screens out the non-Christian applicant. However, some still apply since they do not understand the word "Christian" in the same way we do.
Because a teacher is a Christian, however, does not mean that he or she is professionally or personally qualified for teaching in a Christian School. There has to be a special sense of God's leading in the life of the applicant and in the life of the school that brings the two together and makes them one. This is God's will for the individual and the school for that particular tine.
(1) Personal characteristics.
Teaching is a demanding occupation that requires that people be at their best physically, intellectually, and socially.
Ordinarily, the best student in school makes the best teacher, all other things being equal. Although college grade point average is not always indicative of basic intelligence, it is a good indicator of hard work and should be respected as such. Look for the teacher who is a good student, who has developed good study habits, to be the one who will be a well-disciplined teacher.
Good mental health is just as important as good physical health. Sometimes individuals who have been rejected from public school teaching for personal peculiarities will apply to the Christian School as an alternative. Because of the pressures of classroom teaching in a Christian School under less than ideal circumstances, people of good stability are required. There really is no room for the emotionally unstable, paranoid, and depressed.
(2) Professional training.
There is a great deal of controversy as to whether the liberal arts graduate, the teachers' college graduate, the Christian college graduate, the Bible college graduate, or Bible institute graduate makes the best Christian School teacher. The truth probably is that no one category provides the ideal Christian School teacher. We are hiring individuals, not the schools from which they come, so we must evaluate individuals on the basis of many variables.
In these days it would seem to be the best course of action to select those prospective teachers who have had an appropriate amount of professional training in the area for which they have applied are being considered for employment. It is not a wise policy to hire someone to teach in an area in which they have had no formal education. In addition, the applicant should have had a better-than-average academic record in the area of specialization.
Most college graduates are able to secure provisional certification from a state department of education for their area of teaching specialization. If provisional certification is not available, and then the applicant should be willing to pursue studies leading to certification while employed at the Christian School. By the same measure, the Christian School should be willing to provide tuition assistance to such an individual. If the applicant is unwilling to continue study within a suitable period of time, the applicant should not be hired. State certification may not always be required for a Christian School teacher by the state, but it should be required by the Christian School as a testimony to professional competence.
(3) Professional experience
Applicants for Christian School teaching should have successful student teaching or actual teaching experience. Student teaching references are usually available in the applicant’s Placement Folder from his or her college and the grade for student teacher experience is found on the college transcript.
If there is any question at all about references regarding teaching experience, a telephone call by long distance is a justifiable expenditure.
One should be careful of the applicant who did not complete the first year of teaching or who has not been retained after three years of teaching in a given place. The former is indicative of a poor performance. The latter is a sign of possibly not attaining tenure.
As was the case of professional training so also it should be with professional experience. One should not usually be hired to teach a subject in which he or she has not had experience in teaching. Exceptions to this would be in the area of elementary education, where experience in one grade does not preclude teaching in another.
(4) Spiritual experience.
We have already made a case for hiring only Christian teachers. Some applicants will talk in very general terms about faith in a Supreme Being or an answer to prayer in a crisis experience. This is no substitute for a genuine conversion experience. A genuine conversion experience is not the end of spiritual experience. The applicant should show signs of spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity should not be measured in terms of spiritual service, but one should be careful of those who have rendered no previous spiritual service.
Agreement with the schools' statement of faith is also an area of concern. If the school's statement of faith is specific enough at crucial points, deviations from the statement of faith cannot be accepted. Requirements that teachers attend or join a given church are matters between the school and the applicant.
Bible teaching experience is a positive virtue, as well as experience in leading young people to Christ. Sunday school teaching is often a clue to seriousness of purpose along these lines.
(5) Matters relating to Christian School teaching
Most applicants do not have a clear understanding of the philosophy of the Christian School. In many cases they have a rather general idea of the purposes of a Christian School or how teaching in a Christian School might be different from teaching in a public school. If all others matters are satisfactory, then a reading course in the philosophy of Christian education may be required of the applicant. A sincere person can be taught and will be willing to learn.
Most important, however, is the motivation to teach in a Christian School or a specific call to do so. Direct questioning at this point, above and beyond a written statement, is helpful. If teaching in a Christian School is only an alternative and not a clear call, then the applicant should be dropped. The difficulties and demands of teaching in a Christian School are considerable. A person without a clear reason for teaching in a Christian School will be a poor influence and a deterrent to morale.
(6) Supporting documents.
There should be at least two (2) supporting documents with the application. The first is an official college or graduate school transcript sent by the registrar of the institution. The second is a placement folder from the teacher placement bureau of the college or graduate school. In lieu of the placement folder, letters of recommendation may be accepted, if they can be verified as being relatively unbiased.
(7) The interview
No teacher should be hired without a personal interview. It is often better that more than one person do the interviewing. Besides the principal, the applicant may be interviewed by a school board member, preferably the chairman, and other members of the faculty. The interview is helpful in picking up information not submitted with the application and to pursue points not made clear in the application. The interview also gives an opportunity for subjective elements to come into play, such as quality of inter-personal relations, ability to meet new situations, and ability to project one's own ideas.
The interview is also helpful to the applicant, for it gives him or her the opportunity to evaluate the school, its purposes, its programs, its facilities, and its personnel. The applicant will have to be satisfied that this is a legitimate place in which to serve the Lord.
If it appears that the applicant meets all the qualifications of the school and after prayer you are constrained to offer a contract, do not hesitate to do so after securing School Board approval. Trust God to lead the applicant in the same manner in which you have been Zed. The outcome will be God's answer to you both.
About The Author: In 1975, when this article first appeared in Keys to Christian School Administration, Robert W. Siemens, Ed.D. was the Headmaster of the Loudonville Christian School, Loudonville, New York Permission to publish this article by CSRnet was granted by Dr. Roy W. Lowrie’s daughter, Dr. Janet Lowrie Nason.
This page was last updated on: March 19, 2001