Teaching Philosophies Dr. Jennifer L. Bowie

Why do we have to do these things?• Often to fulfill some requirement and get a

job or scholarship or complete portfolio• However it is a great opportunity to:

– Reflect on how you teach and why– (Re)Consider your current methods and

analyze how well they stack up to your ideals– Reshape your current teaching as needed to

better reflect your goals, growth, and philosophies

– Simply stimulate your thinking on about your teaching

Format

• Keep it brief: ideally 1 page, maybe 2• Write for a general audience (be able to

explain to non-experts, this will further illustrate your ability to teach)

• Use first person narrative • Make it reflective, vivid, and personal

– Use examples even videos to support

Content• Answer these questions:

– Why do you teach? – What do you teach?– How do you teach?/Why do you teach the way that you

do? – How do you measure your effectiveness?– How do people learn? – How do you facilitate that learning? – What goals do you have for your students? – What do you do to implement these ideas about

teaching and learning in the classroom? – Are these things working? Do your students meet the

goals? – How do you know they are working? – What are your future goals for growth as a teacher?

From: http://artsci.wustl.edu/%7Eteachcen/Teaching-ssistants/philosophystatement.php & http://ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/philosophy/Phil_guidance.html

Components

• Conceptualization of learning:– Explain what you mean by learning and what

happens in a learning situation– Draw on your experience and observations– Consider including things like learning

issues/differences: learning styles, how different students respond to different types of learning (discussions, lectures, hands-on, …), various learning disabilities, and so on

– If you want, feel free to use and explain a metaphor for learning

More Components

• Conceptualization of teaching– Discuss what you mean by teaching– Explain how you facilitate and motivate

learning – Consider how you have come to these

realizations– If you used a metaphor before then add

the teacher to the metaphor (how do you fit?)

Even More Components

• Goals for students– Explain the goals you set for your classes– Discuss the rationale behind the goals– Present the activities you use to reach the

goals– Discuss any changes in your teaching goals as

you have evolved as a teacher– Consider a full range of goals:

• Content (an easy starting place, example: writing a strong thesis sentence

• Process (example: understanding and applying the writing process)

• Career and lifelong goals (examples: ethics, social commitment, critical thinking, audience analysis)

Yet Another Component

• Implementation of the philosophy: this is often the “fun” and relatively “easy” part– Explain how you implement your goals for

students and your concepts of teaching and learning

– Discuss your course design, course materials, activities, assignments, projects, and day-to-day teaching strategies

– Consider how you conduct classes, grade, and even mentor

– Discuss how you interact with students inside and outside the classroom

Last Component

• Teaching growth plan– Reflect on your teaching and how it has

changed over time– Discuss what goals you have set and

how you accomplished these goals– Consider long terms goals (previous and

current)– Discuss challenges in the past or present– Reflect on the teacher you want to

become

Your Philosophy

• Have fun with it• Make it reflect who you are as a

scholar, person, and most importantly as a teacher

• Use it to become a better and more reflective teacher

Samples!

• See a class full of student philosophies http://richrice.com/5060 (bottom of page, links above the pictures)

• Rich Rice’s: http://richrice.com/philosophy.pdf

• Clay Spinuzzi’s: http://locus.cwrl.utexas.edu/spinuzzi/?q=node/7

• See also the handout for another

Questions?Sources: • Philosophy Of Teaching Statement http://www.oic.id.ucsb.edu/Resources/Teaching/TPS.html• Developing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement http://teaching.uchicago.edu/pod/chism.html• Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement for the Academic Job Market

http://artsci.wustl.edu/%7Eteachcen/Teaching-assistants/philosophystatement.php• Guidance on Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement

http://ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/philosophy/Phil_guidance.html