WRITING A SUCCESSFUL TEACHING STATEMENT October 18, 2012 and November 29, 2012 12:00 – 12:50 pm Center Hall Rm 217B Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development [email protected]@polarisdotca Adapted from presi by Cynthia Lee (CSE, UCSD). Also, University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University, and others… Slides available at http://ctd.ucsd.edu/2012/11/writing-a- teaching-statement-again/
Workshop about writing a teaching statement for academic job applications. Relies heavily on materials from the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt U.
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WRITING A SUCCESSFUL TEACHING STATEMENT
October 18, 2012 and November 29, 201212:00 – 12:50 pm Center Hall Rm 217B
I subscribe to the cognitive theory of constructivism. That is, I’ve found that students don’t understand things deeply until they have time for “reflective abstraction” - a period where students pause, think back on what they have been told, and build in their own minds a picture of the concept. I thus believe that a good question, one which forces students to reflect on what they’ve absorbed, is worth at least five or ten minutes of lecture, so I employ Socratic discourse to help students work through the material for themselves.
General Guidelines14
o Make your Teaching Statement brief and well written. While Teaching Statements are probably longer at the tenure level (i.e. 3-5 pages or more), for hiring purposes they are typically 1-2 pages in length.
o Use narrative, first-person approach. This allows the Teaching Statement to be both personal and reflective.
o Be sincere and unique. Avoid clichés, especially ones about how much passion you have for teaching.
o Make it specific rather than abstract. Ground your ideas in 1-2 concrete examples, whether experienced or anticipated. This will help the reader to better visualize you in the classroom.
o Be discipline specific. Do not ignore your research. Explain how you advance your field through teaching.
o Avoid jargon and technical terms, as they can be off-putting to some readers.cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/reflecting/teaching-
statements/
General Guidelines16
o Try not to simply repeat what is in your CV. Teaching Statements are not exhaustive documents and should be used to complement other materials for the hiring or tenure processes.
o Be humble. Mention students in an enthusiastic, not condescending way, and illustrate your willingness to learn from your students and colleagues.
o Revise. Teaching is an evolving, reflective process, and Teaching Statements can be adapted and changed as necessary.