The Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington conducted a workshop for instructors on writing a teaching philosophy on November 2001. The notes below were recorded and annotated by Dr. Russell Herman,  a CTE Faculty Associate.

Handouts -

• Dr. D. Bushman provided a list of ten prompts to consider when writing a teaching philosophy statement.

Discussion

The workshop had over a dozen instructors, who are at various stages of  their careers and with different reasons for wanting to write a teaching philosophy statement. They were first asked to introduce themselves and to state why they were at the workshop. They were then asked what they thought should be in such a statement. The following is a summary of the responses:

What should students learn?

• skills

• synthesis

• analysis

• to think

How do they learn?

• Read material

• Web links

• Go to class

• Learning takes place outside the classroom

The instructor provides

• website

• lectures

• office hours

• homework

How do classes appear

• lectures

• computer/multimedia

• demos

• organized

Other comments about teaching philosophy statements:

• Include stuff that makes you look good.

• The statement will naturally give a sense of instructor's personality.

• The statement should be in first person.

• The style will depend upon the audience.

• Will the student feel comfortable in your class? 

• Express the values that you hold.

• Perhaps you expect students to learn to be informed citizens.

• You might express that student in your class have something to say since your class is about everyone and not just the instructor.

• Are you the type of teacher who deposits information  or do you conduct your classes in a different style. 

• Discuss what you what you teach that is discipline specific. 

• What compels you to work in this area or to want to teach?

• What is the culture in your discipline? How do you introduce students to what is common in your discipline or subdiscipline? The instructor has a different understanding of their field than others do.

• Is this really only a job?

• The teaching philosophy statement can be used as summation statement in front of a portfolio.

• In writing a teaching philosophy, one might see how it match to practices in the classroom.

• This statement can be used as justification for your activities.

• There may be an implicit/explicit connection to the instructor's research .

• Express how students can learn; e.g., they may need to work in groups; talk to the instructor or use email; need to practice skills and think about subject until it clicks.

• Writing about oneself is not easy and can take several drafts. The teaching philosophy statement is an evolving document and should be revisisted periodically to adjust to what really goes on in the classroom. Writing a teaching statement can be a reaffirmation for oneself, which can be used to keep a check or what you do or keep you grounded.