2. WHAT IS A TEACHING PORTFOLIO?
• Documentation of your teaching and research as an
ongoing process: “an ever changing, living document”
(ucat.osu.edu)
• Articulation and reflective discussion of your teaching
approach, methods and philosophy
• Organized and selective collection of teaching materials
and evidence of teaching effectiveness
• Demonstration of best practices and the effectiveness of
your teaching
• Forum to improve your teaching skills and expand your
expertise

3. PURPOSE OF A TEACHING PORTFOLIO
• for job market applications (most applications require at
least a teaching philosophy, many universities today also
require a portfolio for hiring purposes)
• for reappointment, tenure and promotion as part of your
academic career
• for tracking and reflecting on your own development and
progress as a teacher and educator
• for generating a public dialogue about your teaching and
teaching experiences

4. DEREK BOK CENTER FOR TEACHING/HARVARD
Creating a portfolio
“ may seem like a lot of work that will distract you from
completing the Ph.D. Try not to see it as such. Instead, envision
the process of creating a Teaching Portfolio not as a necessary
evil -- something akin to assembling a c.v. -- but rather as a
means of productively preparing for the job market and a
successful academic career. The process of creating a Portfolio
should provoke the kind of thought and attention to teaching
that academics more commonly reserve for research. The
Teaching Portfolio, Peter Seldin writes, "is to teaching what lists
of publications, grants, and honors are to research and
scholarship." More accurately, it is to teaching what an abstract
and statement of research interests are to disciplinary
scholarship. “

5. FORMATS OF TEACHING PORTFOLIOS: ADVANTAGES
AND DISADVANTAGES
Print portfolio:
Advantages:
• can be prepared easily and edited without any outside
tools except a computer and printer.
Disadvantages:
• costly to reproduce and mail
• overwhelming amount of materials
• limited access
• linearly structured

6. FORMATS OF TEACHING PORTFOLIOS: ADVANTAGES
AND DISADVANTAGES
Electronic portfolio
Advantages:
• Immediate access for portfolio evaluators and search
committee members
• Possible incorporation of multimedia tools such as
video, audio etc.
• Possibility to link various documents with each other and
thus create a “non-linear environment” for your
materials, which allows yourself and your reader greater
freedom

7. FORMATS OF TEACHING PORTFOLIOS: ADVANTAGES
AND DISADVANTAGES
Disadvantages:
• privacy and copyright issues
• certain level of technical knowledge and resources
essential for preparation

8. COMPONENTS OF A TEACHING PORTFOLIO
•
Statement of Teaching Philosophy (and
Teaching with Technology Statement) (plus a
description of your personal teaching goals in the future)
•
•
•
Your CV
Documentation of your teaching
experience and
responsibilities
Teaching materials including comments on
their
use and effectiveness

9. COMPONENTS OF A TEACHING PORTFOLIO
•
Evidence of teaching effectiveness
•
Evidence of professional development
•
Contributions to the profession and your
institution
•
Student Work and ancillary materials
•
Teaching awards and recognitions

10. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
1. Statement of Teaching Philosophy:
•
well-written and informed essay detailing your ideas about teaching and
learning with specific examples from your classroom practice
„* Your conception of how learning occurs
* A description of how your teaching facilitates student learning
* A reflection of why you teach the way you do
* The goals you have for yourself and for your students
* How your teaching enacts your beliefs and goals
* What, for you, constitutes evidence of student learning
* The ways in which you create an inclusive learning environment
* Your interests in new techniques, activities, and types of learning“ (Center
for
Teaching, Vanderbilt University)

11. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING
PHILOSOPHY
„If at all possible, your statement should enable the reader to imagine
you in the classroom, teaching. You want to include sufficient
information for picturing not only you in the process of teaching, but
also your class in the process of learning.”
– Helen G. Grundman, http://www.ams.org/notices/200611/commgrundman.pdf

12. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING
PHILOSOPHY
1.1. Teaching with Technology Statement
•
Description of the various instructional technology tools you have used
and are familiar with, their potential and pitfalls, their effectiveness and
forms of assessment you have developed
•
use of electronic resources for lesson preparation as well as for student
use (including citation standards)
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpts (resources)
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/philosophy/index.html (step-by-step
tutorial)
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpum (samples)

13. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING
EXPERIENCE
2. Documentation of your teaching experience and
responsibilities:
• list of courses taught and/or teaching assistant ships
• detailed course descriptions including levels, enrollment
numbers, methods, projects etc.
• sample course syllabi (past and future)

14. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO – TEACHING
EXPERIENCE
Responsibilities:
• workshops, info sessions
• extracurricular activities
• non-academic teaching experience
• tutoring, student advising
• list of students who chose German as a major or minor
after attending your course or/and continued in advanced
courses
• Successful efforts to establish and maintain a study/work
abroad program or opportunities for students

15. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO
3. Teaching materials including comments/rationale on their
purpose, use and effectiveness:
• detailed course syllabi of courses taught or planned
• assignments, exams, handouts, creative projects etc.
with written evaluation
• commented use of multimedia resources and
instructional technology
• sample lesson plans
• teaching modules

16. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO - MATERIALS
• comments on student exams, essays etc.
• videotapes of your teaching and their evaluation
• demonstration of your attempts at refining and improving
your teaching resources
• examples for collecting and sharing materials with
colleagues, online etc.

17. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO
4. Evidence of teaching effectiveness:
• course evaluations (survey and written) and
interpretation
• letters from students (solicited and unsolicited) and
mentees
• self evaluations
• teaching observation reports and letters of
recommendations with a specific focus on teaching from
colleagues, supervisors and professors

18. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO - EFFECTIVENESS
• evaluations from colleagues and supervisor concerning
course development and improvement
• teaching certificates, awards and honors
• comments about teaching achievements and promotions
from the administration of your institution

19. SAMPLES FOR EVALUATING STUDENTS’ COMMENTS
(FROM: TLS WORKSHOP)
“Dr. xxx is a very good teacher, although sometimes s/he seems nervous or
uncomfortable speaking in front of the class... I know s/he is trying hard to
improve and it is obvious how much effort s/he puts into it.”
Of course the students could perceive my inexperience and nervousness in teaching. I
had never taught before. I had never even stood in front of 100 people before! This
was obvious to the students, and constructive comments like this are quite to their
credit.
“Prof xxx seems to really enjoy teaching, gives us [...] personal experiences. ...
Excellent teaching skills and use of innovative instructional strategies.”
In my first 5 years, my ratings for overall teaching ability increased from 3.5 to
4.3, significantly above the faculty mean of 3.9 .This improvement is due to using
new teaching approaches learned in workshops and seminars which increased my
comfort level speaking in a large class.

20. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
5. Evidence of professional development:
• attendance of professional development seminars
• attendance and/or presentation of teaching-related topics
at conferences and departmental or university wide
teaching workshops
• publications of teaching-related research
• design and continued development of new courses

21. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO – PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
• participation in interdisciplinary and collaborative
teaching projects
• preparation of a textbook, course reader etc.
• evidence of continued improvement in teaching
approach, methods and materials

22. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: STUDENT
WORK
6. Student Work:
• papers, exams, essays with your written comments
• student journals, student projects
• video or other forms of documentation of student work
(presentations, collaborative work, projects, skits, field
trips, extracurricular activities with a specific learning
objective etc.)
• Websites students developed for a course

23. RESOURCES FOR PREPARING A PORTFOLIO
Publications:
• Seldin, Peter: The Teaching Portfolio, 2004
• Knapper, Christopher and Wilcox, Susan: Preparing a Teaching
Dossier, 2007
• Lewis, Karron: Preparing a Teaching Portfolio: A Guidebook (available
for download at: www.utexas.edu/academic/diia)
• UBC: Teaching Portfolio Preparation (available for download at:
http://wiki.ubc.ca/images/6/6f/Teaching_port_prep_guide_2007.pdf
• CMU: Guidelines for Teaching Portfolios (available for download
at:http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/resources/DocumentingYourTeaching/T
eachingPortfolios/TeachingPortfolios.pdf
• Clark, George David: Developing an Effective Teaching Portfolio, 2013
(available for download at:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/onhiring/developing-an-effective-teachingportfolio/32297 )

24. RESOURCES FOR PREPARING A PORTFOLIO
Useful Websites:
•
Teaching and Learning Services, McGill University
http://www.mcgill.ca/tls/
•
Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation, UoT
http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/gsta/teaching-essentials/dossiers.htm
•
University Center for the Advancement of Teaching, OSU
http://ucat.osu.edu/read/teaching-portfolio
•
Centre for Teaching, Learming and Technology, UBC
http://ctlt.ubc.ca/resources/teaching/portfolios/
•
Centre for Teaching, Vanderbilt University
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/reflecting/teaching-portfolios/

25. RESOURCES FOR PREPARING A PORTFOLIO
•
The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness, University of
Saskatchewan
http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/resources/portfolio
•
Centre for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpcp
•
The Teaching Centre, University of St.Louis
http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/About/ProgramsforGraduateStudentsand
Postdocs/resources/Pages/Creating-a-Teaching-Portfolio.aspx

26. RESOURCES: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Helpful websites for getting started:
•
http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-grad-students/teachingstatement/
•
http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/philosophy.html
•
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resources/teaching_resources/reflecting/p
hilosophy.htm
•
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/sites/default/files/resource_files/CRLT_no23.p
df
•
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/philosophy/start/index.ht
m
•
http://sunconference.utep.edu/CETaL/resources/portfolios/writetps.htm

27. RESOURCES: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Sample Teaching Philosophy Statements:
•
http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/resources/portfolio/samples
•
http://brown.edu/about/administration/sheridan-center/teachinglearning/documenting-teaching-effectiveness/teaching-philosophystatements
•
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpum

28. JOB INTERVIEWS
• Common teaching related question during job interviews:
Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard
University