ACS Six Tips for Writing an Effective Teaching Statement

From the webpage: “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.”