Developing a teaching portfolio
Increasing emphasis is being placed on improving and evaluating university teaching. For example, most universities now require applications for a position or promotion to include evidence of the applicant’s ability as a teacher. This can be difficult, since, although there are established ways of demonstrating one’s qualifications and record of research, there are few relating to excellence in teaching. A teaching portfolio is designed to enable you to present a profile of your teaching and your students’ learning, as well as to help you to continue improving your practice.
What is a teaching portfolio?
The teaching portfolio contains information about your teaching and your students’ learning, together with interpretations of the information presented. Remember: good teaching is a matter of establishing a context that encourages good learning.
The portfolio is valuable as a means to:
- reflect on your teaching practice
- make you aware of your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher
- keep a personal record of your development as a teacher
- help you with planning your professional development program
- portray your teaching profile in your curriculum vitae
Constructing a teaching portfolio
There are a number of basic steps in constructing a teaching portfolio:
- articulate your personal teaching philosophy
- collect your evidence
- organise your evidence
- write reflective and summary statements about your evidence
- gain feedback from colleagues and/or CTLC staff during the developmental stages
- use the portfolio to compile a teaching profile to accompany your curriculum vitae
What should a teaching portfolio contain?
A teaching portfolio contains evidence of teaching and reflections on that evidence. It is a good idea to include information from as wide a variety of relevant sources as possible. It can include activities that have had had an impact on your teaching. The following list includes a number of suggestions; you may think of others. Remember to include material about postgraduate supervision. The portfolio might contain:
Personal teaching philosophy:
- a statement of your educational philosophy, preferred principles for good teaching, and aims and objectives particularly as they relate to your area of specialisation
- strategies for realising these in practice
- a statement about your views of assessment
Evidence of professional involvement and accountability:
- a history of your teaching over recent years, including details such as the names and levels of courses and subjects, numbers of students, pattern of assessment results
- documentation of your course and subject responsibilities
- evidence of your involvement in professional activities related to teaching, such as membership of academic associations, attendance at conferences, seminars you have conducted or participated in
- examples of teaching innovations that have improved student learning
Representative course materials:
- documents from courses you have taught, including statements of objectives, curriculum outlines, handouts for students
- teaching and learning materials, such as recordings, handbooks, demonstration models, collection of resources
- examples of assignments and other forms of assessment you have used
- examples of other ‘products’ of good teaching
Information on how you continually monitor and evaluate your own teaching:
- video or audio tapes of your teaching
- peer reviews from colleagues who have observed your teaching
- evaluation by students of your teaching, such as the results of questionnaire surveys eg Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET), including your interpretation of the results and any action you have taken as a consequence
- statements from past graduates of your course
Contributions to the scholarship of teaching:
- outlines of any research you have conducted into teaching (your own or others’ teaching)
- papers (published and unpublished) that you have written or contributed to, and that relate to teaching
- evidence of official recognition of your teaching, such as awards, commendations, grants
The information should exemplify your educational aims, objectives and strategies. The contents should be representative of your teaching, rather than exhaustive. Assembling and updating a portfolio provides opportunities for ongoing reflection and examination of your goals for teaching and student learning and to compare them with your practice. The portfolio will be built up over a number of years, so you will need to decide on a suitable means of keeping the information together. You can draw from it as necessary, whether for your own personal reflection, for a job or promotion application, or perhaps as a source for an academic paper.
Teaching profile
From your portfolio you can also compile a teaching profile, which should routinely accompany your curriculum vitae, and be updated regularly. Your profile will be a few pages long. It will give a clear picture of you as a teacher in a broad, clear outline, without excessive detail, based on firm evidence and not simply on assertions and generalities. The profile will form the basis of applications for positions and for promotion.
Further information
This website is a brief guide to presenting evidence of your teaching abilities. It should be read in conjunction with the La Trobe University document ‘Guidelines for Applicants’.
The CTLC can provide further advice and information relevant to your professional development as a teacher, and can assist you with conducting evaluations of your teaching. CTLC staff conduct a number of seminars and workshops each year on evaluating your subject and teaching and preparing a teaching portfolio. Information about our workshops can be obtained from the CTLC.
References and additional reading
Centra, J. A. (1993) Use of the Teaching Portfolio and Student Evaluations for Summative Evaluation (microform), Washington, D.C: ERIC.
Chism, N. V. (1997-1998) Developing a philosophy of teaching statement, Essays on Teaching Excellence: Toward the Best in the Academy, 9 (3).
Edgerton, R., Hutchings, P., & Quinlan, K. (1991) The Teaching Portfolio: Capturing the Scholarship of Teaching, Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
Gibbs, G. (1989) Creating a Teaching Portfolio. Bristol: Technical and Educational Services Ltd.
Griffith Institute for Higher Education. (1996) Teaching Portfolios: Guidelines for Academic Staff, Griffith University: GIHE.
Kaplan, M. (1998) The Teaching Portfolio, Center for Research on Teaching and Learning, University of Michigan.
National Tertiary Education Union. (1996) How to Compile a Teaching Portfolio. South Melbourne: NTEU.
Rodriguez-Farrar, H. B. (1995) Teaching Portfolio Handbook, Providence, RI: Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Brown University.
Seldin, P. (1997) The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions, 2nd Ed. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.
Seldin, P. and Associates (1993) Successful Use of Teaching Portfolios, Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.
Seldin, P., Annis, L., and Zubizarreta, J. (1995) Teaching Portfolios to Improve Instruction, In W. Alan Wright (Ed.) Teaching Improvement Practices, Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.