A statement of teaching philosophy
is a reflective statement on how you teach and why, what you value in
the teaching and learning process, what kind of teaching takes place in
your classroom and why, and how you have developed as a teacher over time.
Those questions can be broken down into a series of smaller questions,
reflection on which will help to develop a Statement of Teaching Philosophy.
Questions to Promote Initial
Reflection
[Developed by Linda von Hoene,
GSI Teaching and Resource Center, University of California, Berkeley.]
What type of teaching will
take place in your classroom and why?
Are there any particular
theoretical discourses that you believe will inform your teaching?
What does "learning"
mean to you as applied to your discipline?
What specific practices
will you use to motivate students?
How would you describe the
relationships fostered in the process of teaching and learning between
you and your students and among your students?
If you were to write your
own teaching biography, how would you say your teaching has changed
over time and why?
If you overheard students
talking about you, what adjectives would you want to hear them use to
describe you as a teacher and why? What adjectives would you not want
to hear them use to describe you as a teacher and why?
How is the teaching you
do or will do related to other work that you do in your discipline or
in the community?
Describe the best course
you ever took and explain why it was stellar. Describe the worst course
you took and why it was so bad.
If someone were to ask you
why it is important to study your discipline, what would you say?
What metaphor would you
choose to describe who you are or will be as a teacher?
Think about the best and
worst teachers you have ever had. What they do that either helped or
hindered your learning?
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