Transcript Teaching Philosophies - Georgia State University

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/Teachingssistants/philosophystatement.php &
http://ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/philosophy/Phil_guidance.html
Components
•
Conceptualization of learning:
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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
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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:
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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