Why You Need a Statement of
Teaching Philosophy and How to
Develop One
Marie Kendall Brown, Ph.D.
Assistant Director for Teaching and Learning
October 22, 2013
SIGS PLAN Workshop
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Consider your own assumptions about
teaching and how these assumptions inform
your philosophy of teaching
Identify key components of successful
teaching philosophy statements
Compare and contrast sample teaching
philosophy statements from a range of
disciplinary perspectives
Begin writing your own teaching philosophy
statement
GROUP 1
GROUP 2
Consider your best
teacher.
Consider your best
learning experience.
What characteristics
describe this individual?
What characteristics
describe the experience?
What do these
characteristics represent?
What do these
characteristics represent?
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“Just because you have never written a
statement of your teaching philosophy does
not mean you do not have a philosophy. If
you engage a group of learners who are your
responsibility, then your behavior in
designing their learning environment must
follow from your philosophical orientation…
What you need to do is discover what [your
philosophy] is and then make it explicit.”
-- Coppola (2000)
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Requests for teaching philosophies are common
in the academic marketplace
“A survey of 457 search committee chairs in six
disciplines (English, history, political science,
psychology, biology, and chemistry) found that
57% requested a teaching statement at some point
in the job search”
SURPRISE! Requests for teaching
philosophies were most frequent in the
natural sciences!
Reference: O’Neal, Meizlish, & Kaplan (2007)
BELIEFS - What do you believe about
instructing or teaching?
INTENTIONS - What do you try to accomplish
in your instruction or teaching?
ACTIONS - What do you do when instructing
or teaching?
Access the Teaching Perspectives Inventory here:
http://www.teachingperspectives.com
Transmission
• Effective teaching requires a substantial commitment to the content or
subject matter. Good teachers have mastery of the subject matter or
content.
Apprenticeship
• Effective teaching is a process of socializing students into a set of
social norms and ways of working. Good teachers are highly skilled at
what they teach.
Developmental
• Effective teaching must be planned and conducted “from the learner’s
point of view.” Good teachers must understand how their learners think
and reason about the content.
Nurturing
Social Reform
• Effective teaching assumes that long-term, hard, persistent effort to
achieve comes from the heart, as well as the head. People are
motivated and productive learners when they are working on issues or
problems without fear of failure.
• Effective teaching seeks to change society in substantive ways. From
this point of view, the object of teaching is the collective rather than
the individual. Good teachers awaken students to the values and
ideologies that are embedded in texts and common practices within
their discipline.
In general, how do you see your primary role as a
teacher?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Teaching students facts and principles of the subject
matter
Providing a role model for students
Helping students develop higher-order thinking
skills
Preparing students for jobs/careers
Fostering student development and personal growth
Helping students develop basic learning skills
Access the Teaching Goals Inventory here:
http://fm.iowa.uiowa.edu/fmi/xsl/tgi/data_entry.xsl?db=tgi_data&-lay=Layout01&-view
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A kind of “mission statement” for anyone
committed to teaching
A unique and personal statement that
introduce you, as a teacher, to your reader
A description of “how it is you go about
teaching”
A writing sample (so make sure it is wellwritten)
A mirror that reflects the changes in thought
and practice that occur during a teacher’s
career journey
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Demonstrates that you are reflective and
purposeful about your teaching
Helps to communicate your goals as a teacher
Articulates the teaching approaches you use to
achieve your teaching goals
Describes how you want to make a difference in
the lives of your students
Documents your progress and development
Outlines a path of professional improvement
In short: It stimulates genuine reflection
about teaching.
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Individuals who will be entering the job market
Individuals who are actively on the job market
New instructors
Experienced instructors
Individuals who are seeking promotion
Individuals who are preparing for their annual
review
In short: Every practicing educator can benefit.
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2.
3.
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Your goals for your students
Your values as a teacher
Description of how you teach—approaches
and methods you use to achieve your
teaching objectives
Assumptions about teaching and learning—
your justification for why you teach the way
you teach
Discussion of how you measure your
effectiveness vis-à-vis your objectives and
methods
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Be brief… 1-2 pages (at most) is best
Avoid technical terms, favor language that
can be broadly appreciated
Write with your audience in mind
Use a narrative, first-person approach
Be straightforward and well-organized
Use this as an opportunity for reflection and
introspection: Strive to create a vivid portrait
of your teaching practices
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You care for students
You desire to challenge students
You run a student-centered classroom
You use of a mixture of lecture and discussion
You put students first
You are available to students outside of the
classroom
You love teaching
You have learned a lot from teaching
You seek to integrate your research and teaching
• A strong opening (e.g., begin with the story of how you
developed your teaching philosophy)
 Making distinctions between the way you teach different
types of courses (e.g., content-oriented vs. skillsoriented, introductory vs. upper-level)
 Offering specific descriptions:
◦ How your objectives have played out
◦ An enlightening moment in the classroom
◦ A moment of failure that led to a new way of teaching
◦ A creative strategy or assignment you have used
• Citing your sources: It reflects well to credit individuals
and resources who have shaped your teaching
As a group, let’s choose a statement from the “Faculty Focus” article
that we can read and critique:
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A Teaching Philosophy Built on Knowledge, Critical
Thinking and Curiosity: Health Care Management
A Dynamic Interaction Between Pedagogy and
Personality: Psychology
Teaching Philosophy and Assumptions: Education
Education as Becoming: English
A Nurse Educator’s Philosophy of Teaching:
Nursing
Teaching and Advising Philosophy and Style:
Animal Science
Make Learning Fun: English
Take a few minutes to read the statement carefully,
then complete the evaluation rubric.
Please spend 10 minutes QUICKLY jotting down
notes and ideas on the Teaching Philosophy
Template.
Be prepared to share your thoughts with your
neighbor.
What are the key insights you
gathered from today’s
session?
What is one step you will take
to toward completing your
teaching philosophy
statement?
Thank you!
I am happy to review your work and offer
constructive feedback. I can be reached at:
marie.brown@louisville.edu