Putting it all together

Now that you understand the three major elements of a teaching statement (Learning Goals, Teaching Methods, and Assessment of Teaching and Learning), it is time to put them together into one coherent statement.  You should begin the statement by articulating the most important thing about the discipline for your students to learn—the learning goals.  Each of the subsequent paragraphs in the document then support that overarching goal by focusing on one aspect of it, describing the teaching methods used and reflecting on how effective the teaching approach was in helping students achieve the goal.  For example if in the first paragraph you articulate the goal for students to connect the material to real world applications, in the second paragraph you may focus on a particular problem commonly encountered by professionals in the industry, describe how you expose students to the tools to solve the problem, and reflect on how well students were then able to develop solutions.  Thus each paragraph in the body provides evidence in support of the high level learning goal from the introduction.

Example Outline
  1. Introduction
    1. Discipline-specific, high-level learning goal
  2. Body-1
    1. Smaller learning goal
    2. Teaching Method
    3. Reflection about effectiveness for student learning
  3. Body-2
    1. Smaller learning goal
    2. Teaching Method
    3. Reflection about effectiveness for student learning
  4. Body-3
    1. Smaller learning goal
    2. Teaching Method
    3. Reflection about effectiveness for student learning
  5. Conclusion
    1. Summary of how your teaching approach addresses the overall learning goal
    2. Direction(s) for the future
Writing Starters

Now you are ready to begin writing your own statement.  Please use the following worksheets to help you get started in writing your own teaching statement.

Crafting a Teaching Statement

  • A series of questions to help you reflect on the major elements you want to include in your statement. (Download PDF Version)

Rubric for scoring statements of teaching philosophy

  • A comprehensive rubric for the major components of a teaching statement by Kearns et al 2010. (Download PDF Version)
More Resources

Center for Teaching and Learning, Georgia Tech, www.ctl.gatech.edu

  • CTL staff will review your statement with you one-on-one to help you revise it before submission with your award or job packet.
  • Example statements written by graduate students are available upon request.
  • Please contact ctlhelp@gatech.edu to make an appointment for a consultation or for more information and resources
Select published resources on teaching statements

Coppola, B. (2002).  Writing a statement of teaching philosophy.  Journal of College Science Teaching,  31(7), 448-453. (@GaTech)

Grundman, Helen G. (2006). Writing a teaching philosophy statement.  Notices of the AMS, 53(11), 1329-1333. (PDF Version)

Kearns, K. D. and Subiño Sullivan, C.  (2011).  Resources and practices to help graduate students and postdoctoral fellows write statements of teaching philosophy.  Advances in Physiology Education, 35(2), 136-145. (Abstract)

O’Neal, C., Deborah Meizlish, and Matthew Kaplan (2007).  Writing a statement of teaching philosophy for the academic job search.  CRLT Occasional Papers No. 23.  University of Michigan.  (PDF Version)

Palmer, P. (1998).  The Courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (@GaTech)

Seldin, P. (2004).  The Teaching portfolio:  A Practical guide to improved performance and promotion/tenure decisions (3rd ed).  Boston, MA:  Anker. (@GaTech)