Six Tips for Writing an Effective Teaching Statement

Melanie M. Cooper, Alumni Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC

Teaching is a major component of almost all faculty positions. Surprisingly, then, even an almost complete lack of experience and training–in teaching and student learning–will probably not prove to be a major obstacle to your obtaining a faculty position. Many institutions, particularly research-intensive universities, typically do not require candidates to provide any evidence of teaching expertise or even knowledge of how people learn. However, it is almost certain that you will be asked to write a teaching philosophy statement as part of your application package. If you have never done this before it can be quite daunting, but fortunately a quick Internet search will provide plenty of resources and examples. These sources provide very specific advice. For example: You should consider why you want to teach, what methods you will use to teach, in what circumstances you will be teaching, and how you will know when your students have learned.

My aim for this article is not to tell you exactly how to write a teaching statement—but rather to point out some specific dos and don’ts that might help you stand out from the crowd. Remember that the review committee will have a large number of application packages to read, and you want yours to stay in the active pile.

4. Consider what classes you would like to teach, and recognize that you might be asked to teach classes that are out of your “comfort zone.” Different institutions have differing class sizes. Classes may be large and small; consider the mechanisms you might use to help people learn in both contexts. Again, this is going to depend to some extent on the type of institution you are applying to. Some published advice will recommend thinking about the teaching and learning circumstances that worked for you. But take note: This is a perilous approach. Most students are not aiming for a Ph.D. in chemistry and frankly may not respond well to approaches aimed at the best, most motivated students in the class (i.e., people like you). You should explicitly acknowledge these differences and indicate your openness to the alternative approaches and techniques needed to reach a broad range of students. It will be your job to teach the students and you may not have exactly the students you want!

5. Participate in workshops and courses for faculty candidates. If you have the opportunity, take advantage of the fact that many institutions offer workshops or courses to help you prepare for life in the professoriate; they can also help with writing academic application documents, such as your teaching statement. There may also be the opportunity to participate in a workshop that is held outside of your campus. For example, prior to every fall national meeting ACS offers the Postdoc to Faculty workshop, which helps postdocs transition to academic careers. These types of workshops and courses provide an opportunity to reflect on and discuss your ideas with others and can really help you formulate and clarify your ideas about teaching and learning. More to the point, taking part in such opportunities provides evidence for a sincere commitment to effective teaching.

6. Keep it focused and short: between one and two pages is appropriate. Remember that the search committee will possibly be reading hundreds of teaching statements. Your readers will not be inclined to look favorably on a long, meandering discourse about your epistemological framework or on an exposition of why you care so much about students, particularly if you have never seriously engaged in teaching before. Write your teaching philosophy statement in clear language and make your points succinctly.