This Europe: A matter of student taste for Swedish teachers

Would-be teachers in Sweden are facing new and unusual job interviews: not only do they have to discuss their training and experience, they may have to answer questions such as, "What's your favourite food?".

In Helsingborg in the southwest of the country, schools are allowing pupils to join inter- view panels when a teacher is hired. Per Bredberg, the headteacher of the Helsingborg school Slottsvngsskolan, where the idea is being piloted, said he was satisfied with the results. "The students don't have a final vote, but they are allowed to put questions and give their opinion," he said. "They put different, often more personal, questions."

Younger interviewers often wanted to know why candidates chose teaching as a profession. But they could also take interviewees by surprise; the oddest question Mr Bredberg had heard was on the candidate's eating habits.

A spokesman for the Swedish Teachers' Union said teachers were not, in general, opposed to pupils interviewing candidates. The trend in Swedish education is for more student participation in decision-making with the aim of making schools more child-centred. The spokesman said: "It's good for students to express their opinion. It must be a support for the chosen teacher to know the students have had their say."

Mr Bredberg agreed. He said usually only two students joined the panels – neither younger than 14 – and they were told to keep discussions confidential, but word spread to the other students and this created expectations, mostly positive.

The new process often produced revealing results. "The teacher candidates are not expecting to meet both parents and students at the interview," Mr Bredberg said.

"It makes it very interesting to see their reaction."