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What is a Teaching Portfolio?
A teaching portfolio brings together key materials that document your experience as a teacher, emphasizing your strengths and highlighting the efforts you have made to enhance your teaching effectiveness.
Since the process of creating a portfolio encourages you to articulate your teaching strategies, reflect on your work, and clarify your teaching goals, it is an effective tool for enhancing your teaching as well.
The teaching portfolio is a valuable asset in the search for a teaching position, since it allows prospective employers to gain an impression of how seriously you regard teaching, the range of teaching experience you have accumulated, and what efforts you have made to promote learning among your students.
Why create a Teaching Portfolio?
Many faculty positions require submission of a teaching portfolio or at least portions of it at the time of application. The teaching portfolio is also commonly used as documentation of teaching success during promotion and tenure review. Finally, it helps you to reflect upon your teaching in productive and justifiable ways.
What should be included in a Teaching Portfolio?
Teaching Philosophy Statement
A 2-4 page narrative that outlines your pedagogical philosophy, strategies, and objectives; summarizes your teaching experience; describes efforts you have made to improve your teaching; and outlines support materials contained in the portfolio. Examples of teaching philosophies may be viewed at the University of Georgia Office of Instructional Support. Also see the CET webpage on writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement.
Teaching Materials
These are materials that you have developed such as course syllabi outlining course objectives, policies, topics, assignments, readings, and teaching methods, sample tests, lab exercises, class notes, and handouts. You might also include video or audiotapes of you lecturing or leading a class discussion. Examples of graded student work are helpful in demonstrating improvement through a specific instructional technique
Support Materials
Evaluations by professors, other teaching fellows, or colleagues who have observed your teaching, as well as student evaluations (numerical scores and written comments) and letters from students. You may also include workshops or other training that you have taken to improve your effectiveness as a teacher.
Helpful Resources
Seldin, Peter (1997) The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions , 2nd edition. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.
Additional information about compiling a teaching portfolio, with examples, is available from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst.
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