Hi Everyone, It's been a while since I posted on here. I posted quite a while back about being a first year teacher and my contract not being renewed. I applied at several schools in the spring and then some more this summer. I had given up hope about hearing from any of them Schools are starting back this week for some and next week for others. I finally got a call yesterday and I have an interview on Monday. My question is what do I tell them about why I didn't stay at the other school? I don't want to say that I was non renewed. I don't want to say anything negative about the school either. I would like to say something along the lines of what the school told me (that I wasn't the right fit except for word it that the school wasn't the right fit for me) but I don't know what to say as to why it wasn't the right fit for me.
It's been a while since I filled out an application, but most of my apps asked why each position was left. Did you have to do that on your application? I doubt they would pry more if you said the school was not a good fit,
On my application I just put down it was a temporary contract (which it was, they don't put you on a regular contract until you have worked there for 3 yrs). I wasn't sure if they would make me expand on the sentence if I just stated it wasn't the right fit. Thank you for responding
( Hugs) I wish you luck and hope you do very well. You could just say you were only hired to work a year at the school and that was the agreement from the get go. or blame it on budget cuts ( I doubt they would ask about it though.)
I'm in the minority but I would never say that I wasn't a good fit. To me it sounds like you were an outsider which in education is bad and many admins will see that as you being the problem (I used to sit on the interview committee). I like the idea of saying you were on a temporary contract which wouldn't be a lie unless you were permanent. I had a job at a charter school where I loved working there but it was a temporary position. If not going with that I would say you just want a change and new experiences.
If you were hired on a one year contract, saying just that seems reasonable. My first job was one year only and nobody I interviewed with the following summer seemed surprised by or skeptical of that answer.
What would the school say if this district called them? It is better for the potential district to have a heads up instead of hearing it from your previous school. (I was nonrenewed and this is the feedback I have gotten from every teacher/admin/interview panel so far.) You are totally right to not say anything negative about the previous school. Turn it into a learning experience or talk about what you learned at that school. I was non-renewed because I was not the right fit for the position, but while at the school I learned x y z., it was a great experience because ___ etc. If your previous school is going to say that you were non-renewed as opposed to on a one year contract, you want to get out in front of that!
My former principal told me that she would not tell any schools that my contract was not renewed unless they point blank asked her that question. She also gave me a very good letter of recommendation
