Teaching Dossiers

The Teaching Commons provides teaching dossier support to university teachers through the facilitation of workshops and links to online supports and resources.  These resources and collaborative workshops are designed to help you – the university teacher – to establish, recognize, and reflect upon your own teaching practices and teacher identity. Whether you are a tenure-track professor, new faculty member, sessional instructor, or teaching assistant, the Teaching Commons can provide you with the tools needed to write and develop your dossier, re-write and update your dossier for evaluation purposes, and in the preparation of materials for teaching award submissions.

This page provides resources on the following:

 

What is a Teaching Dossier?

A teaching dossier is a document that encapsulates your teaching accomplishments and goals. It is a reflective document that communicates to others (e.g. potential employers, tenure and promotion committees, etc.) the what, how, and why you teach the way that you do. For example, what is significant about your teaching? How do you evidence this? What goals do you have for your students? How do you achieve these goals?

Each dossier is personal and unique; however there are commonalities. Below are examples of dossier formats as well as resources that will assist you as you create and develop your own teaching dossier.

 

York University's Dossier Structure

The Teaching Documentation Guide from York University’s Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning.

  1. Approach to Teaching
    1. Statement of Teaching Philosophy
    2. Teaching Practices and Strategies
    3. Professional Development
  2. Teaching Responsibilities and Contributions
    1. Courses Taught
    2. Supervision
    3. Teaching Awards and Nominations
    4. Teaching Related Activities
    5. Curriculum Development
    6. Research and Publications
  3. Self-Evaluation of Teaching and Student Learning

Another format might incorporate the following elements.

  1. Teaching Philosophy, Practices, and Goals
  2. Summary of Teaching Responsibilities
  3. Development of Teaching Methods, Strategies, Objectives and Materials
  4. Products of Good Teaching
  5. Steps Taken to Evaluate and Improve Teaching
  6. Contributions to the Development of Teaching, short and long-term goals
  7. Information and evaluations from Students and Peers
  8. Appendices

 

Resources Internal to York

York University's Teaching Documentation Guide outlines a structure of a teaching dossier. Within this document, this structure is explored and discussed more fully.

The Teaching Assessment & Evaluation Guide provides course directors with strategies to reflect on teaching, advice on how to gather feedback on their teaching practices, guidance on how teaching might be fairly and effectively evaluated, which characteristics of teaching might be considered, and which evaluation techniques are best suited for different purposes.

 

Resources External to York

Creating your Teaching Dossier

The following links offer practical resources and advise on how to design and develop your teaching dossier. Consider these resources for answers to your how to questions, and for exemplars of teaching dossiers.

Resources for Writing Teaching Philosophy Statements

Writing your teaching philosophy statement is often the most challenging aspect of developing your teaching dossier. The following articles outline some tips and suggestions to help you reflect and draft your teaching philosophy statement.

O’Neal, C., Meizlish, D., & Kaplan, M. (2007). Writing a statement of teaching philosophy for the academic job search. CRTL Occasional Papers, No. 23. Centre for Research Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan.

Schonwetter, D.J. Sokal, L., Friesen, M. and Taylor, K.L. (2002). Teaching philosophies reconsidered: A conceptual model for the development and evaluation of teaching philosophy statements. The International Journal for Academic Development, 7(1), 83-97.

Consider Creating an EPortfolio

The following links are resources, tools, and templates should you wish to create an electronic portfolio (ePortfolio). Much like the teaching dossier, an eportfolio is an electronic collection of teaching documentation.  They may be used for development, presentations,  assessment, or to demonstrate professional competencies including teaching development.