Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A teaching statement describing a shift to a flipped-classroom model after observing low engagement, with assessment-score evidence of impact.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A one-paragraph list of previously taught courses, with no discussion of method or philosophy, is a CV teaching list, not a teaching statement.
Editorial commentary
A teaching statement is a coherent written statement of a candidate’s pedagogical practice, required alongside the CV and research statement for most US academic faculty hiring. It differs from a CV’s teaching list (course titles, terms taught) by being a narrative account of teaching philosophy and method — how the candidate approaches instruction, how they’ve adapted their approach in response to evidence of what works, and, where available, concrete evidence of impact on student learning outcomes.
Expectations for what a strong teaching statement covers have shifted in recent years: search committees increasingly expect explicit attention to inclusive pedagogy — how a candidate’s teaching accounts for a diverse student body — alongside more traditional content on course design and assessment. Because of this, some institutions now require a separate “teaching diversity statement” in addition to (not instead of) the general teaching statement, scoped specifically to inclusive-teaching practice.
How this differs from the related terms on this site
Teaching statement and research statement are a matched pair of US academic job-market documents — the operative distinction between them is subject (teaching philosophy vs. research program), not format or audience; both serve a hiring or tenure committee. Neither is related to the UK funder-driven narrative CV movement or its specific implementation, R4RI — those are grant-application documents for funders, evaluated on a different set of contribution domains entirely, with no teaching-specific section.
Example: A candidate’s teaching statement describes moving from lecture-only delivery to a flipped-classroom model after observing lower engagement, and cites improved assessment scores as evidence.
Counter-example: A one-paragraph list of courses previously taught, with no discussion of method or philosophy, is a CV teaching list, not a teaching statement.
References
- American Association of University Professors (AAUP) guidance on teaching statements
- Vitae Researcher Development Framework, Domain D
Also known as
Teaching philosophy statement · Statement of teaching
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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