I thought that this article was good
because the audience is college teachers.
Steve
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Developing a Philosophy of Teaching
Statement
by Nancy Van Note Chism
The
from Essays on Teaching
Excellence:
Toward the Best in the Academy,
Vol. 9, No. 3, 1997-1998.
When asked to write a
statement on their philosophy of teaching, many college teachers react in the
same way as professionals, athletes, or artists might if asked to articulate
their goals and how to achieve them: "Why should I spend time writing this down?
Why can't I just do it?" For action-oriented individuals, the request to write
down one's philosophy is not only mildly irritating, but causes some anxiety
about where to begin. Just what is meant by a philosophy of teaching statement
anyway?
In
the current academic climate it is likely that most faculty will be asked for such a statement at some point
during their careers. The emphasis on portfolios for personnel
decision making, new commitment by institutions to the teaching mission, and the
tight academic job market have stimulated more requests of college
teachers to articulate their philosophies. At many colleges and universities the
philosophy of teaching statement is becoming a regular part of the dossier for
promotion and tenure and the faculty candidate application package. Such
statements are often requested of nominees for teaching awards or applicants for
funds for innovative educational projects.
Besides
fulfilling requirements, statements of teaching philosophy can be used to
stimulate reflection on teaching. The act of taking time to
consider one's goals, actions. and vision
provides an opportunity for development that can be personally and professional
enriching. Reviewing and revising former statements of teaching philosophy can
help teachers to reflect on their growth and renew their dedication to the goals
and values that they hold.
One
of the hallmarks of a philosophy of teaching statement is its individuality.
However, some general format guidelines can be suggested:
The
main components of philosophy of teaching statements are descriptions of how the
teachers think learning occurs, how they think they can intervene in this
process, what chief goals they have for students, and what actions they take to
implement their intentions.
Conceptualization
of learning.
Interestingly, most college teachers agree that one of their main functions is
to facilitate student learning; yet most draw a blank when asked how learning
occurs. This is likely due to the fact that their ideas about this are intuitive
and based on experiential learning, rather than on a consciously articulated
theory. Most have not studied the literature on college student learning and
development nor learned a vocabulary to describe their thinking. The task of
articulating a conceptualization of learning is therefore difficult.
Many
college teachers have approached the work of describing how they think student
learning occurs through the use of metaphor. Drawing comparisons with known
entities can stimulate thinking, whether or not the metaphor is actually used in
the statement. For example, when asked to provide a metaphor, one teacher
described student learning in terms of an amoeba. He detailed how the organism
relates to its environment in terms of permeable membranes, movement. and the richness of the environment; translating these into
the teaching-leaming context by drawing comparisons
with how students reach out and acquire knowledge and how teachers can provide a
rich enviroriment. Grasha
(1996) has done extensive exploration of the metaphors that college student and
teachers use to describe teaching and learning. An earlier classic that also
contains an exploration of metaphors of teaching and learning is Israel Scheffler's The Language
of Education (1960). Reinsmith (1994)
applies the idea of archetypes to teaching. Such works might be consulted for
ideas.
A
more direct approach is for teachers to describe what they think occurs during a
learning episode. based on their observation and
experience or based on current literature on teaching and learning. Some useful
sources that summarize current notions of learning in a very accessible way are
contained in Svinicki (1991), Weinstein & Meyer
(1991), and Bruning (1994). Teachers can also
summarize what they have observed in their own practice about the different
learning styles that students display, the different tempos they exhibit, the
way they react to failure, and the like. Such descriptions can display the
richness of experience and the teacher's sensitivity to student learning.
Conceptualization
of teaching.
Ideas on how teachers can facilitate the learning process follow from the model
of student learning that has been described. If metaphors have been used, the
teacher role can be an extension of the metaphor. For example, if student
learning has been described as the information processing done by a computer, is
the teacher the computer technician. the software, the
database? If more direct descriptions of student learning have been articulated,
what is the role of the teacher with respect to motivation? To
content? To feedback and assessment? To challenge and support? How can the teacher respond to
different learning styles, help students who are frustrated, accomodate different abilities?
Goals
for students.
Describing the teacher role entails detailing how the teacher can help students
learn, not only a given body of content, but also
process skills, such as critical thinking, writing, and problem solving.It also includes one's thoughts on lifelong learning
- how teachers can help students to value and nurture their intellectual
curiosity, live ethical lives, and have productive careers. For most teachers,
it is easier to begin with content goals, such as wanting students to understand
certain aerodynamic design pronciples or the treatment
of hypertension. The related process goals, such as engineering problem solving
or medicaldiagnostic skills, might be described next.
Finally, career and lifelong goals, such as teamwork, ethics, and social
commitment, can be detailed.
Implementation
of the philosophy.
An extremely important part of a philosophy of teaching statement is the desciption of how one's concepts about teaching and learning
and goals for students are translated into action. For most readers, this part
of the statement is the most revealing and the most memorable. It is also
generally more pleasurable and less challenging to write. Here, college teachers
describe how they conduct classes, mentor students, develop instructional
resources, or grade performance. They provide details on what instructional
strategies they use on a day~to-day basis. It is in
this section that teachers can display their creativity, enthusiasm, and wisdom.
They can describe how their No Fault Test System or videotaping technique for
promoting group leadership skills implements their notions of how teachers can
facilitate leaming. They can portray what they want a
student to experience in the classes they teach, the labs they oversee, the
independent projects they supervise. They can describe their own energy level,
the qualities they try to exhibit as a model and coach, the climate they try to
establish in the settings in which they teach.
Personal
growth plan.
For some purposes, including a section on one's personal growth as a teacher is
also important in a statement of teaching philosophy. This reflective component
can illustrate how one has grown in teaching over the years, what challenges
exist at the present, and what long-term goals are projected. In writing this
section, it helps to think about how one's concepts as
well as actions have changed over time. It might be stimulating to look at old
syllabi or instructional resources one has created, asking about implicit
assumptions behind these products. Dialogue with colleagues, comparison ofpractices with goals, and examination of student or peer
feeback on teaching might help with the task of
enumerating present questions, puzzles, and challenges. From these, a vision of
the teacher one wants to become will emerge. Describing that teacher can be a
very effective way to conclude a philosophy of teaching statement.
By
far the best philosophy of teaching statement examples for most college teachers
are those: of peers who teach in similar settings or disciplines. Since
statements tend to be tailored to specific contexts, peer examples are thus
highly appropriate models. Dialogue with colleagues on these statements can help
to stimulate ideas for one's own statement as well.
Other
examples are contained in several recent books on teaching portfolios, such as
Seldin (1993) and O'Neil & Wright (1993).
Reflective books on effective college teaching often contain extensive
descriptions of teaching philosophies, such as the chapter on "Developing a
Personal Vision ofTeaching" in
Bruning,
R. (1994). The college classroom from the perspective of
cognitive psychology. (pp. 3-22)
In
K. Pritchard & R. Sawyer (Eds.), Handbook of college
teaching.
Grasha.
A. (1996), Teaching with style.
O'Neil,C.
& Wright. A. (I993). Recording teaching accomplishment.
(4th ed).
Reinsmith,
w. (1994).
Archetypal forms in teaching. College Teaching, 42,131-136.
Scheffler,
Seldin,
P. (1991). The teaching
portfolio.
Seldin,
P. & Associates (1993). Successful use of teaching
portfolios.
Schmier,
L. (1995). Random thoughts: The humanity of
teaching.
Svinicki,
M. (1991).
Practical implications of cognitive theories. In R. Menges & M. Svinicki, (Eds.) College
teaching: From theory to practice. New directions for teaching and learning,
45, pp. 27-37.
Weinstein,
C. & Meyer, D. (1991).
Cognitive learning strategies and college teaching.
In R. Menges & M. Svinicki, (Eds.) College
teaching: From theory to practice. New directions for teaching and learning,
45, pp. 15-26.
Nancy
Van Note Chism is the Director of Faculty and TA
Development at The
Dr. Stephan
Kinholt
Advisor,
Instructor of
Math & Teacher Education
253-833-9111
x4354
skinholt@greenriver.edu