Developing a Philosophy of Teaching, Scholarship, and Professional Service

The university guidelines for portfolios state that an important aspect of one’s narrative is “a well-documented narrative description of one’s philosophy, goals, strategies, innovations, assessments, improvements, and professional growth for each of the three areas of teaching, scholarship, and service.”  Feedback from various levels of review indicate that some faculty seem to have difficulty in clearly articulating their philosophy for each area.  Based upon a review of the literature on academic portfolio development, this is not an uncommon problem.

In order to help faculty members conceptualize their philosophy of teaching, scholarship, and service for inclusion in their narrative, we have incorporated the proposed working shown below in the description of the narrative in Section Five of the Faculty Handbook.  The new wording is largely derived from suggestions in an article by Goodyear and Allchin (1998) entitled “Statements of Teaching Philosophy” (see reference below).  Goodyear and Allchin are associated with the University of Texas at El Paso Center for Effective Teaching and Learning and the center’s website has some excellent materials on helping faculty develop a philosophy of teaching (www.utep.edu/cetal/portfoli/philos.htm).

Suggestions for developing a Philosophy of Teaching, Scholarship and Service (from revised Section Five of the Faculty Handbook):
 
A clearly articulated philosophy of teaching, scholarship, and service will communicate the faculty member’s personal values, beliefs, and goals underlying his or her activities in and across these areas.  It is not simply a description of one’s responsibilities and approaches in each area.  The foundation of one’s philosophy should be an answer to the question:  “Why do I teach/do scholarship/engage in service?”  As a guide to answering this basic question, Goodyear and Allchin (1998) suggest addressing the following questions:

Once you have answered the question “Why do I teach/do scholarship/engage in service?,” you need to link your answer to documented examples of the activities and practices that embody and exemplify your philosophy.  Goodyear and Allchin suggest that the final version of your philosophy of teaching/scholarship/service may include the following dimensions (not necessarily in this order):
    1)     How your integration of teaching, scholarship, and service is expressed in your teaching, scholarship, and service;
    2)     How you create and maintain relationships with students and faculty colleagues that enhance successful teaching, scholarship, and service;
    3)     How you create an effective physical, social, and psychological learning environment;
    4)     How you communicate your values and expectations to your students and colleagues;
    5)     A description of selected activities, strategies, and techniques and how they reflect your philosophy of teaching, scholarship, and service; and
    6)     How successful you are in achieving your intended outcomes in teaching, scholarship, and service.
 
Reference:
Goodyear, G. E., & Allchin, D. (1998).  Statements of teaching philosophy.  In M. Kaplan (Ed.), To improve the academy, Vol. 17 (pp. 103-122). Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.