Teaching Philosophy #1 - due Thursday, Sept. 9

In order to become an informed and effective teacher, it is important to develop your own teaching philosophy. A teaching philosophy is a statement that reflects your viewpoint, your basic theories about teaching and learning (how you approach the classes you teach). These are not easy to develop and write, but the best way to start is to reflect back on your experiences as a student and as a teaching assistant/teacher (if you have served in either of those capacities), and make a list or outline of the general ideas and concepts that you think are important and may want to include in your philosophy. Think about the things that you have found to be most effective in teaching and learning, and use those to form general principles of teaching that you may want to follow. Once you have a list of ideas, you can begin to elaborate on these ideas in your actual written philosophy. Remember, this is your own personal philosophy, and may be similar or different from others. There is no one right answer here. You should aim to write a philosophy that best fits with your views (not the ones you think others may want to hear). Generally when writing a philosophy, it is better to pick a few main overarching themes that you can elaborate upon with specifics instead of a large number of very general themes that are only touched on broadly.

If you ever decide to apply for a position teaching at a college or university, you will be asked to submit a statement of your teaching philosophy. If you apply for a teaching associate position within our department here, you will need to turn in a teaching philosophy. You final teaching philosophy in this course can be used in applying for such teaching positions. It is therefore important to make sure that you are expressing yourself clearly and with enough detail to illustrate your approach and views on teaching.

For this assignment, at the beginning of class on Thursday, Sept. 15, turn in a 1-2 page double-spaced statement that accurately, clearly, and in an organized fashion reflects your personal teaching philosophy.

As you gain more experience throughtout the semester (and throughout your careers) you teaching philosophy will naturally change. It is therefore a good idea to begin the habit of periodically reflecting back on your teaching and what you have and wish to accomplish. To help begin this periodic reflection, you will write another teaching philosophy that will be due at the end of the semester. More on that assignment will be posted later in the semester.