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...Home > Services > Newsletter > Lizard Index > 1995-1996 Issues > A Guide to Your Teaching Portfolio

Landing A Teaching Job: A Guide to Your Teaching Portfolio

By Michael Pebworth

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many GTFs ask about teaching portfolios -- what they are, what they should contain, who uses them for hiring, how long or short they should be, etc. There are no fixed answers to any of these questions. Each institution that uses teaching portfolios for hiring and/or promotion and tenure has its own set of criteria.

With this in mind, Michael Pebworth began investigating the variety of approaches to teaching portfolios which exist among the kinds of institutions to which he may wish to apply. In doing this front-end research, he not only got a jump on his job-hunting competition, but also saved himself time and embarrassment by choosing the appropriate job application materials for that college or university.

Not every institution uses teaching portfolios; many have never heard of them. However, more institutions use them now than ever before, and the number is growing. At the very least, you should know whether the institution to which you are applying is familiar with teaching portfolios, values them and would like to see one from you. Better yet, you should take the time to find out exactly what they want that portfolio to look like.

The best way to answer questions about portfolios for a particular institution is to contact their faculty development center (their version of the Teaching Effectiveness Program). Someone there will be able to talk with you about teaching portfolios and how they are used for hiring. They can offer guidelines and criteria for what your portfolio should contain.

What follows is a summary of what Michael Pebworth discovered in his search.

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Graduate training in any field offers both stimulation and drudgery; it also offers the hope of gainful employment. One step in that direction is the compilation of a teaching portfolio. At its simplest level, a teaching portfolio is a tangible object that illustrates your teaching skills. However, before you reach for that three-ring binder and old lesson plans, take some time to think about how you conceptualize your teaching mission. Carefully select the documents that illustrate how your teaching has changed over time, and where it might go in the future. Consider the different audiences who will read your portfolio. In short, do some footwork. An excellent teaching portfolio might help you land a job; a sloppy one will waste your time and the time of the hiring committee -- a group of people we would prefer to impress.

Getting Started

The first step to a good teaching portfolio is a round of self-reflective questions. George Sims, who chairs the history and political science department at Belmont University in Nashville, insists that critical reflection is one of the most important attributes that a candidate should possess. His department's hiring committee often asks candidates the following questions:

• How do you understand what the introductory course in history contributes to the education of undergraduates regardless of major or degree?
• How would you design a course so that it helps students learn content and master the intellectual skills most important to you?
• How will you determine whether or not your course is effective?
• What do you do if a class is not going well?
• What was your best experience as a teacher? Why?
• What was your worst experience, and what made it so?
• Why do you choose to teach the way you do?

According to Professor Sims, compiling a teaching portfolio may be one of the best ways to prepare for such questions.

The Basics

Once you've answered some basic questions about your teaching, there are several different ways to present your answers. Linda Nilson, Director of the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt, suggests that your teaching portfolio could be around 25 pages and enclosed in a nice (but not large) three-ring binder. If it's too long and bulky, a hiring committee is going to groan.

Nilson believes that the most essential items to include are student and faculty evaluations of your classroom teaching, evidence of teaching awards, and a two-page statement of teaching philosophy with some examples of your most effective teaching formats and techniques. She also recommends syllabi, interesting tests and papers you've assigned, and innovative classroom activities you've developed.

Other educators agree on these basic ingredients, but suggest that you keep your portfolio as brief as possible. Some recommend a short "sectioned" document with detailed appendices to provide documentary evidence of your teaching experience.

On the other hand, Debbie Langsam, a biology professor at UNC Charlotte, suggests that a portfolio should have between three and five topical entries. In addition to entries that include student and colleague evaluations, sample exams, feedback you've given to students, and a self-reflective critical essay, Langsam suggests additional entries: short descriptions of a course you might hope to develop in the future or a particular strategy you might use in a required course. A list of the steps you've taken (workshops, readings) to prepare yourself for teaching, your philosophy of mentoring student research, and future plans with new pedagogical techniques and educational technology can round out the portfolio.

Yet another organizational approach to a teaching portfolio stresses different levels of information. Alan Kalish, Associate Director of the Teaching Resources Center at Indiana University, recommends three different levels of information. First, the portfolio should contain a cover letter that includes one or two paragraphs on your strengths and experience in the classroom and how they relate to the job in question. Next, you'll need a one- or two-page statement of your teaching philosophy, explaining what you believe makes for good teaching, and some specific examples of how you've implemented that philosophy in the classroom. The third level is a dossier of documents already mentioned by other educators. Kalish especially endorses a letter of recommendation from someone who has seen you in the classroom.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame

In an age of information and artifice, you might think that a videotape of your teaching would be an essential item to include in a teaching portfolio, but the consensus among educators is caution. Certainly, if you have a tape of yourself in the classroom that makes you look like teacher of the year, offer to send it. However, make sure it's a good tape (i.e., video and audio quality are excellent), and one that illuminates your style and organization. Do not simply include your tape as part of an application or teaching portfolio just because you have it.

Jeff Charlston, Manager of the University Teaching Center at George Washington University in Washington D.C., suggests that you contact the search chair by phone and ask if they'd like you to include the tape. In other words, make it clear that the tape exists, but don't presume that everyone wants to see it.

Know Thy Audience

One teaching portfolio does not fit all customers. Do some research about the school's student body and mission, and modify your portfolio so that it speaks to that community. As Debbie Langsam of UNC points out, "If you're applying to a community college, you obviously don't want to waste a committee's time by sending them a discussion of graduate education."

At the same time, though, Alan Kalish notes that there are some 3600 four-year colleges and universities in North America, while there are fewer than 100 research-oriented universities.

It's safe to say that your portfolio should start off with an emphasis on classroom ideology and methodology. Almost everyone agrees that you should not push your portfolio on a committee. Alan Kalish recommends that you include your cover letter and philosophy statement, but he says the dossier can wait until some hurdles have been jumped. Other educators don't see the harm in including the portfolio right from the beginning, especially if the job is at a college or university that stresses teaching. Probably the safest bet is to contact the committee members, let them know you have a portfolio, and find out whether you should send it.

The Bottom Line

Almost every educator agrees that your portfolio should clearly and concisely illustrate your teaching experience and your awareness of teaching. Carol Bailey, Director of the University Writing Program at Virginia Tech, stresses that a good portfolio indicates change over time.

"As you write in your portfolio," says Bailey, "you reflect on your teaching philosophy, and your philosophy will show changes over time." By highlighting some of the changes you've made throughout your teaching, a portfolio demonstrates an active engagement in teaching. Compiling the portfolio prepares you for interviews. Asking yourself critically reflective questions make you a better educator.

In addition to all the other things you've done as a graduate student and all the other materials a hiring committee sees, a good teaching portfolio has the potential to help you stand out among the numerous applicants.

Lizard 36 Spring 96

 

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