Developing a Teaching Portfolio

What is a teaching portfolio?  A portfolio or dossier is a collection of material that depicts the nature and quality of an individual's teaching and students' learning. Portfolios are structured deliberately to reflect particular aspects of teaching and learning – they are not trunks full of teaching artifacts and memorabilia. At its best, a portfolio documents an instructor's approach to teaching, combining specific evidence of instructional strategies, and effectiveness in a way that captures teaching's intellectual substance and complexity. (William Cerbin, 1993)

How are teaching portfolios used?

As a "product" (for decisions – evaluative, summative)
• to communicate your teaching to a potential employer.
• to communicate your teaching to students, colleagues, community. 

As a "process" (for development – formative, reflective)
• to record your teaching experiences over time.
• to provide themes and evidence for your evaluative portfolio.

What goes into a teaching portfolio?

• Teaching Experience and Responsibilities
• Teaching Philosophy
• Teaching Methods and Strategies
•  Examples of efforts to Improve Teaching:  observations, critiques, workshops, experiments in pedagogy and methodology
• Teaching Goals: short- and long-term
•  Appendices
• Annotated course materials -- for example, syllabi, assignments, activities, handouts
• Examples of student work
• Student ratings and other student feedback
• Peer and supervisor reviews

How can you begin to work on a teaching portfolio?

• Reflect on your teaching individually; talk about your teaching with others
• Get feedback on your teaching from several sources – students, peers, supervisors, video
• Reflect on student learning in your field: How do students learn? What challenges do they face?
• Keep records of your teaching, feedback you receive, and plans to develop your teaching
• Seek out teaching opportunities.

Center for Instructional Development and research, http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/TLBulletins/1(1)TeachingPortfolios.html

This article is excerpted from Get Your Sh*t Together, an artist's professional development series produced by Side Street Projects, Los Angeles.  Visit their web site to order the complete series on CD-ROM.