Cathleen P. Black, the chancellor-designate of the New York City schools, defended herself in an interview broadcast on Sunday against the considerable criticism of her surprise appointment, asking the city to get to know her before deeming her unqualified because she lacks experience in education.

“Give me a chance,” she said in the interview, on WABC-TV. “Don’t judge someone that you haven’t even met.”

Ms. Black, 66, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, gave her first television interview since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced her appointment about a month ago.

As a publishing executive with 40 years of experience, Ms. Black emphasized that her primary job qualification was her role as a “proven manager,” which was what Mr. Bloomberg had told her he wanted in the next chancellor.

“The mayor made it very clear,” she said, adding that Mr. Bloomberg had told her: “I want a manager for this job, I want someone who has had a proven track record of success” at increasingly complex organizations.

Ms. Black said that when Mr. Bloomberg made the offer, “I was, like, over the moon, immediately excited.”

“Oh, my gosh, what an unbelievable opportunity,” she said she thought at the time. “How exciting to have a role in continuing to improve our schools at this stage in my career.”

Though Ms. Black acknowledged that she had sent her children to private schools, saying that “schools in New York City 15 years ago were not at the caliber they are today,” she emphasized the common ground she said she shared with public school parents and teachers. She said she was a “reach-out person” and “consensus builder” who wanted to hear their concerns.

“We are all human beings,” she said. “It is about people. They can be little people as young students, or teachers or principals, or all of the other organizations.”

Ms. Black praised the work of Chancellor Joel I. Klein, saying that she was in “complete alignment” with him, and that she agreed with all the measures he had put into place. She added, however, that she hoped her outside perspective would help her think differently about how to maintain improvements during tougher budget times.

On labor issues, Ms. Black said that as negotiations for a new contract for city teachers moved forward, she planned to continue Mr. Klein’s efforts to increase the robustness of teacher evaluations, reconsider the policy of lifetime tenure and seek to change the law that requires layoffs to be determined by seniority.

She also said she would continue the difficult policy of closing schools for poor performance. A list of about 30 schools to be recommended for closing is expected to be announced this week.

“We have looked at it very carefully, studied it six ways till Sunday,” she said, “but there is a list and we will move forward.”

Asked if there was too much test preparation in city schools, Ms. Black acknowledged that “the curriculum must be more robust.” But she added that such improvements had already begun as the city started to adopt national common core standards, which put additional emphasis on writing and critical thinking.

On the controversial issue of placing charter and regular schools in the same building, Ms. Black said she believed that it was necessary to use space creatively when it was available. “I believe a lot of that screaming and yelling outside of schools is staged,” she said, without offering details. “Maybe it’s the fear of the unknown.”

Ms. Black said that she did not take the opposition to her appointment personally, but that she hoped it would soon die down. “None of this is going to change the outcome, so let’s go forward together,” she said. And she said she remained sure that at the end of three years, when the mayor’s term ended, she would be remembered “as a champion for kids.”