Every Monday from April to June, the GATA Network will be sharing advice on how to make your summer productive. This week we breakdown how to start thinking about and finally write your teaching philosophy.

Last May, the New York Times’ Opinion Pages ran a very honest piece by Professor Gary Gutting, entitled “Why Do I Teach?” As the title implies, and as is no doubt natural for a professor of philosophy, the article catalogued Gutting’s motivation as a teacher and his views on the bigger purpose of education. Some are very political, while others are more personal. Some you may agree with, while others may seem outlandish. Regardless of the form, and even the content, the gesture of Gutting’s article was most important, because anyone who teaches should know why they teach.

To restate plainly, even if you only ever lead discussion groups, or if the majority of your time is spent marking papers, or no matter how inconsequential you might think your role in the classroom to be as a GA/TA, you are someone that impacts student learning, and you should reflect on what motivates you, what your strengths are, and how you view your impact as a teacher. All teachers should, and many do so by writing it down. Like Gutting, many teachers write a statement of sorts that highlights all of these elements, often described as a ” statement of teaching philosophy”.

Whether as part of a teaching dossier, or as something you pin to your wall to remind you why you do what you do, a teaching philosophy is a powerful statement of your teaching identity. Just like James Paul Gee’s concept of “identity kits“, your teaching identity is the set of beliefs, experiences, and abilities that you bring to the classroom. A teaching philosophy captures those aspects of yourself, transcending the discrete learning objectives of individual courses and outlining your vision of successful student learning, specifically in terms of the actions you take to facilitate it.

Image created by Britt Gow in Tagxedo.

Define “Statement”

The term “philosophy statement” might encourage some to think of a leather-bound book, but its length and depth are really determined by how you intend to use it. If you’re submitting it to a set of reviewers looking to determine your suitability for a teaching position, that statement of teaching philosophy might be a few pages. If you’re just trying to work through your thoughts for your own benefit, your statement might be no longer than a paragraph. It might even be something conceptual, like the free association in the wordle above. The important part is the reflection, during which you’ll examine your teaching practices from the perspective of what you know and feel about successful teaching and learning.

How Do We Write One?

The good thing is that there are so many opinions on what a teaching philosophy should look like that there are plenty of helpful guides floating around in cyber space for us to draw from. Below are a collection of a few helpful links:

• The Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) at the University of Toronto provides a helpful guide on constructing a “Statement of Teaching Philosophy“. Pay special attention to the guide’s “10 Steps to Completion” and its advice on “Avoiding common pitfalls”. Hint: show and tell.
• Because they’ve helped so many people work on their teaching dossiers, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Saskatchewan has a lot of sample teaching philosophy statements.
• The University of Western’s Teaching Support Centre offers a short and sweet guide in “Writing Your ‘Teaching Philosophy‘”, combining wisdom from teachers of all disciplines.
• Like most things today, there’s a module for this. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Teaching and Learning has developed a self-paced tutorial that breaks down the writing process into steps.

We’ve written about constructing teaching philosophies before. Networker Melanie Santarossa offered her tips for thinking about your teaching philosophy:

• Try to keep a teaching journal. Write about the activities you are bringing into the classroom, how those work, and what you would like to change. A teaching journal is also a great way to think about what you should be bringing into the classroom, based on how your students respond and or interact to your activities. From here you can easily see a theme to your teaching.
• Use mid-course and end-of-term feedback to guide you. Feedback is a great way to see what it is about your class that students take away with them. This will help you to see what students appreciate about your teaching space.
• Ask someone you consider a mentor (or one of the CTL staff) to watch you teach. Having someone sit in on the class as a student can really give you a true glimpse from the back of the classroom (and one you might not receive from feedback).

Melanie noted that a teaching philosophy is in part a statement of how you treat your classroom and also an ongoing narrative of your ever-evolving teaching style – documenting your journey as a teacher learning “what works for you and what doesn’t”. A strong teaching philosophy makes it evident that the your views on teaching and learning have been affected by specific experiences, trials, and learning moments. Don’t just announce yourself as a rock-star teacher…demonstrate your effective teaching skills with examples.

Still unsure how to go about crafting your own teaching philosophy statement? Don’t be afraid to seek consultation from CTL staff.