Questions For Prospective Teachers

Our Questions For Prospective Chrysalis Teachers

Our door is always open to those led by God to join our team. We're particularly looking for vibrant, authentic, loving teachers, who have strong spiritual awareness, discernment, maturity, and passion. Below, you will find some of the questions we would like answered from those seeking to join our staff. If you feel called to join us, but don't feel ready at this point, please reach out to us anyway, as we offer training and evaluation opportunities for prospective team members.

What is the driving force leading you to join the Chrysalis staff? Explain.
What is the single most important thing you would hope to accomplish as part of the Chrysalis staff?
What would you most want for your students to learn from you, to treasure in their hearts, to remember 20 years from now?
Of all the Chrysalis standards, which ones do you think are most important? Why do you think that?
If you could add something to the list of Chrysalis standards, what would it be? Explain.
If you could remove something from the list of Chrysalis standards, what would it be? Explain.
What is your vision for Chrysalis? How would you go about accomplishing that vision?
Where do you see Chrysalis 20 years from now? Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?
What is the driving force of your life? What is the most important thing of all to you, above every other person, activity, etc? Explain.
What are your spiritual gifts and callings/passions?
What are your personal strengths?
What are your personal weaknesses?
What's your teaching or work style? What do you bring to our team that is an example of your unique, authentic self?
How would you describe emotional intelligence? Would you say that you have that? How might that apply in a class or rehearsal or workspace?
Do you have the ability to read people? Can you tell who a person really is at heart? Can you tell when there is something off about them, like maybe something is bothering them or maybe they're holding back for some reason? How do you do that? Explain, give examples from your own life experiences.
How would you go about the challenge of learning who each student is at heart, of helping them break out and be vulnerable, authentic, and real?
How would you go about building an ideal experience for your students? How would you reach every student individually and make the experience a win for them, including students with special needs or behavioral problems? How would you lead an entire class productively as a family, whilst trying to read and help every single student individually?
What are your most challenging personal struggles? Everybody struggles with something, be it pride, lust, alcohol, or any number of other things. What are yours? What do you do about that? How might that effect your participation at Chrysalis, and how we can help support you and protect you in that struggle?
What are some examples of the divide in the student-teacher relationship? What would be a non-obvious example of appropriate behavior from the teacher versus inappropriate, in a situation that could easily end up crossing that line? Like, if a parent, say a parent you know well, asks you to drive their student home, is it ok to do that? How would you handle a situation like that? What about social media?
What steps would you take as a teacher or other staff member to protect our students, to protect your career/reputation, and to avoid compromising situations?
What are your core beliefs, your moral center?

Religions like Christianity provide very clearly written moral standards that we can hold a person to and define that person's actions by. We need to know what that foundation of your life is, so we can help you to be the best teacher you can be, and so we can be on the alert for any signs that you might be struggling, that you might be at risk, or that our students may be impacted by what you are struggling with. Most big problems in life start with very small details. High character teachers don't just wake up one day and decide to do something with/to a student that they shouldn't. It typically starts smaller. Like, if the teacher is having problems at home, or if they're single and lonely, those types of situations can make them vulnerable. If they have very strong core beliefs but they suddenly start not taking them as seriously, that might be a warning sign that they might stop taking our standards as seriously. Having a filter to apply to your actions can be a great help in anticipating problems before they happen. The better we can understand you, the better we can put you in a position to succeed.

If you believe in the Great Creator...

Have you given your life to God? Have you surrendered all control to Him without reservation? Are you still clinging to control somewhere?
Is the love of God just a concept to you, or is it raw, powerful, and real? Is it present in your life? Describe what it means to you, how you have experienced it in your own life. How can you give that love to your students without "preaching", without crossing the lines of appropriate student-teacher interaction/intimacy?
Can you feel when God is present? Can you feel when evil is present? Can you differentiate between the two? How?
Can you feel the influence of God? Can you feel the influence of evil? Can you differentiate between the two? How?
What are some examples of spiritual truth that you can use to discern whether something is from God, or whether it's from evil?
What steps can you take to guard your heart and protect those around you from spiritual attack?
If there is evil present in the room, or if evil is attacking, what do you do about it? How can you win that battle?
What experience has had the most influence on your spiritual journey, your relationship with God?
What Bible verse is most important to you? Why is it so important? How/when did it become so important? What does it mean to you?
What, if anything, are you putting before God? What are the things that are most important to you, the things that consume all your spare time, your wandering thoughts? The Bible tells a story about a man who wanted to follow Jesus, but when he was told to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor, he went away sad, because he realized he couldn't do that, he couldn't let go of those things. Those things were more important to him than following Jesus. Every one of us has things we cling to, things that may become "idols" for us. Some people "put down their nets", walk away entirely from their careers and jobs, because those things were getting between them and God. Other people cling onto the safety and security of a boat, unwilling to let go and step out into the wild and stormy unknown. What are you clinging onto? What do you spend more time on, what do you love more than God? In today's world, it might be Disneyland, or football, or even theatre. We have room in our lives for so many loves, so many obsessions. But if you had to let go of all of it, to let go of everything you love and you everything you own, could you do that? What would you be unwilling to let go of? Whatever that thing is, clinging to it can be a bit like clinging to a heavy weight in a storm. It may ultimately drown you. We'd like to know what that thing is for you, and how it might impact your participation at Chrysalis. Knowing where your truest and deepest priorities and your values lie is very important to understanding who you are and how you will perform on our staff.