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Applicants for college and university teaching positions, both full-time and adjunct, are frequently asked to submit a statement of teaching philosophy along with their CV, cover letter and other application materials. The statement of teaching philosophy causes a good deal of anxiety for some of the learners I speak with in the Capella Career Center, while others don’t take it seriously and fail to give it the thought and effort it deserves. Teaching philosophies are not easy to write, so it is understandable that they are a source of anxiety for some learners and a project on which to procrastinate for others. What follows are some suggestions for writing a strong statement of teaching philosophy, which should be useful to readers who find themselves in either camp.

Simply put, notable teaching philosophies are well-written and avoid abstract, predictable, or trite statements. Mediocre or downright bad philosophies usually suffer from one or both ailments.

Strong Writing
A statement of teaching philosophy is an essay, so a logical structure and flow is important, as are complete sentences and proper grammar, usage, and punctuation. Lacking those things, your essay is going to leave a negative impression on the members of the hiring committee. You may not be applying for a position in a writing program or English department, but you are nevertheless applying for a job in academia. College-level writing is expected, and your writing, of which your teaching philosophy is a prominent example to the hiring committee, will be more closely examined than it is when you apply for jobs outside higher education.

If you aren’t a strong writer, seek out resources to improve your document and bring it in line with standard expectations for candidates applying for college teaching positions. Capella’s Writing Center has excellent resources on academic and professional writing that you can use to improve your written work. Asking people you know who are skilled writers and editors to review your statement of teaching philosophy – and making it clear you want their honest feedback – is also a good strategy. The career counselors in Capella’s Career Center are also happy to review teaching philosophies to assess their effectiveness as application documents; learners and alumni may submit document review requests here. (Please note, however, that we are not trained editors and cannot guarantee a flawlessly copyedited document.)

A teaching philosophy not only needs to be well written, it needs to present new information beyond what is in your curriculum vitae (CV) and cover letter. Your CV demonstrates what you can teach (your exposure to the subject matter, your real-world work experience, etcetera), while your cover letter is the vehicle by which you introduce yourself to the committee and highlight a few key items from your CV. Your statement of teaching philosophy is quite different – it’s where you lay out how and why you want to teach and how you view your role and responsibility to students. Each element of your application package – the CV, the cover letter, and the teaching philosophy – serves a unique purpose, and together they present a robust picture of you as a candidate. Make sure each document fulfills its intended purpose.

Good Content
A teaching philosophy can be structurally sound and still be problematic if it is filled with hackneyed statements. Hiring committees read hundreds of applications; the best way to ensure your statement gets passed by is to be the 10th or 20th or 100th person to say you are committed to diversity and will work to create a student-centered learning environment (or something similarly banal). Of course you will do those things, but nothing about those statements helps you stand out to an employer.

One way to avoid clichéd statements is to use examples to illustrate your philosophy and to back up the claims you make about your pedagogical approach. For example, don’t just say you understand the needs of adult learners; take it one step further and provide an example of how you demonstrate that in your interactions with students. Have you discovered that you are skilled at providing real-world examples to demonstrate abstract academic concepts? Explain how you’ve done that in a teaching or training setting. If you don’t feel like you have taught enough to have developed a teaching philosophy, check out these suggestions from the Career Center for gaining teaching experience.

Another strategy to help your teaching philosophy feel concrete is to talk about your approach to teaching on subjects within your specific discipline. For example, if you are earning your doctorate in Organization and Management, you might discuss your method of teaching organization and management theory. If you are earning a master’s degree in Non-Profit Management after having worked for 20 years in the non-profit world, your teaching philosophy could focus on how you will combine your work experience and your theoretical knowledge in a classroom setting.

Similarly, target your philosophy to the college or university itself. Are you applying for a job at a campus primarily serving commuter students? Talk about how you will build relationships with students who most likely don’t spend much time on campus. If you will be teaching online, discuss your strategies for connecting with students virtually (your Capella experience should serve you well here). Are you applying at an institution that is affiliated with a religious denomination? Does religion play a central role on campus? Be prepared to address that in your written philosophy (and perhaps at an interview as well).

In short, identify the mission or focus of the institution and construct your statement to demonstrate that your personal teaching philosophy aligns with that mission. (It is possible that you will discover that your teaching philosophy doesn’t align with that of a particular institution. This may indicate a poor fit between you and the organization, which is a valuable discovery to make prior to going through the application process.)

Finally, remember that your teaching philosophy is a reflection of you, so write in your authentic voice. It’s okay to inject some personality in your statement (while still maintaining a high level of professionalism, of course) – it will help make your statement accessible to your audience.

For additional assistance with your teaching philosophy or other documents that are typically requested of applicants for higher ed teaching positions, please visit the Capella Career Center on iGuide.