Patrick & Lynn Hilferty on sat 26 jul 97
I'm slogging through the CAA Careers mailing looking for positions to apply
to and could really use some input on how to write a statement of teaching
philosophy.
Joe? Richard? Louis? Marsha? Erin? Anybody?
Any help would be wonderful.
Patrick
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Patrick Hilferty
Belmont, CA 94002
E-Mail:
Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~philferty/
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Mike Wright on sun 27 jul 97
Thankfully, I never had to write one of these, but I've certainly
read a bunch. The good ones I've seen get into the why. Why I believe
_______ is appropriate in the classroom; why I try to ________. The
ultimate good for the students which comes when you ___________ . Don't
fall all over with detail, but be clear and concise. And before you sit down
to write it, really think: what IS your teaching philosophy? Make little
notes to yourself. Get a crummy rough draft & then polish. I would suggest
you tailor it a bit to each job you're applying for, rather than using
a straight cookie-cutter approach. Also, contact your grad. school
advisor or dept. head--ask if you can see some statements of philosophy from
their files (names deleted, of course) and ask them why one is better than
another. Your school should have a good career placement office; contact
them for some help.
Good luck!
Mike Wright
Ackworth, Iowa
At 09:57 AM 7/26/97 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I'm slogging through the CAA Careers mailing looking for positions to apply
>to and could really use some input on how to write a statement of teaching
>philosophy.
>
>Joe? Richard? Louis? Marsha? Erin? Anybody?
>
>Any help would be wonderful.
>
>Patrick
>
>******************************************************************************
> Patrick Hilferty
> Belmont, CA 94002
> E-Mail:
> Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~philferty/
>*****************************************************************************
>
>
Erin Hayes on wed 30 jul 97
Patrick -
A great deal of BS can be disguised as a teaching philosophy, but if you
love teaching, it is not that hard to write down your honest ideas about
what you do and how you do it.
I think most schools ask for these things to see if you are, at least on
paper, compatible with their outlook on the relationship of faculty and
student. If you do your research on the school, you may be able to tell
what that relationship is, and it may help you know what they may be
looking for. For instance, a four-year school is generally going to be
more interested in your professional show record and a two-year school
or community college will generally be more interested in you being
interested in students over your own work.
My advice is to simply give some thought to how you feel about teaching
in general. Be honest, sincere and just tell it like it is. Issues of
accessibility, academic standards, lecture/demonstration style and
faculty responsibility in the academic environment are all topics I have
seen addressed in teaching philosophies. Chances are that you have some
ideas about how these issues should be dealt with. Write them down and
your teaching philosophy will be well on its way.
Another tip that cannot be understated is to **keep it simple and
short**. No one screening applications for min-quals wants to read a
three page treatise on teaching. Treat the whole affair as a quick
chance to get in there, tell them what sort of teacher you are, and then
leave it to them to determine your fit within their school.
Although trying to get a position is tough under any circumstances,being
real and honest with all of your correspondence with the prospective
school, you stand a better chance of landing a job you'll enjoy.
If you want, reply to me directly and I can send you one of mine from my
employment search. It's too long, but it gives a complete picture of my
ideas on teaching.
Erin.
(gainfully employed as a college instructor despite all my fears of
burger-flipping with an MFA)
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