the college classroom wi16 meeting 9: writing your teaching statement

Step 1

Writing Your Teaching Statement -

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 1

sit and think

Writing Your Teaching Statement

Step 1

sit and think

Just a thought by gintoxin78 on flickr (CC)

The College Classroom Meeting 9:

Writing Your Teaching Statement

March 1 and 3, 2016

Unless otherwise noted, content is licensed under

a Creative Commons Attribution- 3.0 License.

Peter Newbury

Center for Engaged Teaching, UC San Diego

[email protected]

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

Where do you want to go next?



A) faculty position at research university

B) faculty position at teaching-focused institution

with opportunities for (limited) research

C) faculty position at teaching-focused institution with no

research obligations

D) professional career (engineer, medical, journalist...)

E) alternate academic (alt-ac) position

3

Have you applied for academic jobs?



A) not yet, and I won’t until next year

B) not yet, but I will be applying soon

C) yes, for 1 job

D) yes, for 2-5 jobs

E) yes, for more than 5 jobs

Job announcements



Most academic job announcements require applicants to

submit a “Teaching Statement”

Sociology Instructor - Chicano/a Studies, Mira Costa http://www.miracosta.edu/administrative/hr/jobopenings.html

Professor or Associate Professor of Synthetic Chemistry,

Chemistry & Biochemistry, UC San Diego https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/apply/JPF00894

To Apply



“A Teaching what?”



Teaching Portfolio

Purpose of a Teaching Portfolio



Collect in one place all your evidence of teaching

teaching philosophy

teaching statement

teaching evaluations (like CAPE)

examples of your work: PPT, assignments, exams

example of your students’ work

feedback from students, colleagues, bosses

partially online

start collecting NOW




Teaching Portfolio

Teaching Philosophy

Purpose of a Teaching Philosophy



Long (and continually growing document):

Summary of your teaching portfolio, helps tie together

and synthesize evidence

Demonstrates that you are reflective about

your teaching

Communicates your goals and actions

As you revise, it may shape how you teach

Help you set goals for professional growth

A list of all courses you’ve taught with dates,

enrollment, institution, etc.




Teaching Portfolio

Teaching

Statement

also known as…

• Statement of Teaching

• Statement of Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Philosophy

Purpose of a Teaching Statement



Demonstrate you are reflective about your teaching

Communicate your teaching goals and actions

Get hired!




Teaching Portfolio

Teaching

Statement

Teaching Philosophy

for YOU for THEM

A Teaching Statement gives…



Your conception of how learning occurs

A description of how your teaching facilitates learning

A reflection of why you teach the way you do

The goals you have for yourself and for your students

How your teaching enacts your beliefs and goals

What, for you, constitutes evidence of student learning

The ways in which you create an inclusive learning

environment

Your interests in new techniques, activities, types of learning

cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/reflecting/teaching-statements/

Vanderbilt CfT Teaching Statements:

keywords only


collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 15 wordle.net

Vanderbilt CfT Teaching Statements:

all words


collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 16 wordle.net



Count the

number of I,

me, my,…

Step 1



sit and think Step 1

sit and think

Just a thought by gintoxin78 on flickr (CC)

Sit and think…



Which of these do you feel is your primary role as an

educator?

A) Teaching students facts and principles of the subject

B) Helping students develop basic learning skills

C) Helping students develop higher-order thinking skills

D) Preparing students for jobs/careers

E) Being a role model for students

19



Teaching Goals Inventory (Excerpt) © 1993 Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross.

tinyurl.com/TeachingGoalsInventory

Please rate the importance of each of the […] goals listed below to the specific course you have selected. Assess each goal's importance to

what you deliberately aim to have your students accomplish, rather than the goal's general worthiness or overall importance to your

institution's mission. There are no “right” or “wrong” answers; only personally more or less accurate ones. Indicate whether each goal you

rate is:

(1) not applicable – a goal you never try to achieve

(2) unimportant – a goal you rarely try to achieve

(3) important – a goal you sometimes try to achieve

(4) very important – a goal you often try to achieve

(5) essential – a goal you always/nearly always try to achieve

Center for Engaged Teaching, UC San Diego

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Goal

17. Improve mathematical skills

18. Learn terms and facts of this subject

19. Learn concepts and theories in this subject

20. Develop skill in using materials, tools, and/or technology central to this subject

21. Learn to understand perspectives and values of this subject

22. Prepare for transfer or graduate study

23. Learn techniques and methods used to gain new knowledge in this subject

24. Learn to evaluate methods and materials in this subject

25. Learn to appreciate important contributions to this subject

26. Develop an appreciation of the liberal arts and sciences 20

General Guidelines



Make your Teaching Statement brief and well

written, typically 1-2 pages in length.

Use narrative, first-person approach. This allows

the Teaching Statement to be both personal and

reflective.

Be sincere and unique. Avoid clichés, especially ones

about how much passion you have for teaching.

Avoid statements about what doesn’t work (because

someone on the search committee might have done

that this morning!)


General Guidelines



Make it specific rather than abstract. Ground your ideas in 1-2 concrete examples, whether experienced or anticipated. This will help the reader to better visualize you in the classroom.

Be discipline specific. Do not ignore your research. Explain how you advance your field through teaching.

Avoid jargon and technical terms, as they can be off-putting to some readers.


General Guidelines



Try not to simply repeat what is in your CV.

Teaching Statements are not exhaustive documents and

should be used to complement other materials for the

hiring or tenure processes.

Be humble. Mention students in an enthusiastic, not

condescending way, and illustrate your willingness to

learn from your students and colleagues.



General Guidelines



Customize for the department you’re applying to:

“I would be excited to teach introductory courses

like your MATH 10A and MATH 20B.”

“With my research background, I would be able

to teach graduate-level courses in European

history like HIST 554.”

“How will you teach our students?”

Remove UCSD-specific acronyms like UCSD,

CAPE, SIO, SE, MAE, HIEU, SSPPS,…

General Guidelines



Formatting: do everything you can to make it easy for

the hiring committee members to read your doc:

Add a header with your name, so that the reader

can easily associate your awesome words with your

name

full justification gives your doc a polished look

check your PDF very carefully for .docx to .pdf

conversion problems (esp. with bullet points)

Metadata: be sure to check your documents’

metadata (especially author)

www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpts

Teaching Statement rubric:

Write, rubric, revise, rubric, revise…



Goals for student learning

Enactment of goals (teaching method)

Assessment of goals (measuring student learning)

Creating an inclusive learning environment

Structure, rhetoric and language

Excellent

Needs

Work Weak

KEY Guideline: you need a

kick a** first paragraph!



What distinguishes you from everyone else applying?

Give them something to remember you by!

Imagine the hiring committee only reads the first

paragraph carefully and skims the rest. Hit ‘em with

your best stuff right away – don’t save it for the

concluding paragraph.

Spend extra time on the first paragraph:

opening paragraph = abstract in an article

Provide detail and evidence in the rest of the teaching

statement.

First paragraph rubric:

Write, rubric, revise, rubric, revise…



Try the first paragraph rubric



Work with your neighbor. Use the colored dots to evaluate

the sample opening paragraph.

Score the first paragraph



1 point for each Weak

2 points for each Acceptable

3 points for each Strong

A) 1 – 6 points

B) 7 – 8 points

C) 9 – 10 points

D) 11 – 12 points

Try the first paragraph rubric



Work with your neighbor. Use the colored dots to evaluate

the sample opening paragraph.

Score the first paragraph



1 point for each Weak

2 points for each Acceptable

3 points for each Strong

A) 1 – 6 points

B) 7 – 8 points

C) 9 – 10 points

D) 11 – 12 points

You’ve drafted it. Now what?



1. Ask someone you trust IN YOUR DISCIPLINE to read it.

Their familiarity with the subject may catch errors

specific to your field (eg, field work in geophysics)

2. Ask someone you trust NOT in your discipline to read it.

When they ask you what something means, it forces you

to think carefully and concisely about the concept.

People beyond the hiring-Department may read it

(eg, Dean, Provost, Head Librarian, etc.)

The Interview…



When you visit your potential employer for a 24 – 48 hour

interview, you’ll probably

have breakfast with the host

attend meeting after meeting after meeting

give a “research seminar” about your work

teach a demonstration class

meet with the “teaching committee” bring your

teaching portfolio!

Resources



Center for Research on Learning and Teaching University of Michigan www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpts Teaching statement samples: www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpum

Center for Teaching Vanderbilt University cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/reflecting/teaching-statements/

McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning Princeton University www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-grad-students/teaching-statement

Center for the Advancement of Teaching Ohio State University ucat.osu.edu/teaching_portfolio/philosophy/philosophy2.html

the college classroom wi16 meeting 9: writing your teaching statement

Education