The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions

by Peter Seldin

A teaching portfolio is a collection of materials that document teaching performance. It brings together in one place information about a professor’s most significant teaching accomplishments. It can be used for tenure and promotion decisions or to provide the stimulus for self-reflection about areas for teaching improvement.

Approximately 2,000 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada now use teaching portfolios, and they are gaining increasing popularity worldwide. Since the publication of the first edition of this best-selling guide, tens of thousands of faculty have used it to prepare teaching portfolios.

This third edition continues its focus on self-reflection and documenting teaching performance, and has also been significantly revised and expanded. Its straightforward approach, practical suggestions, step-by-step instructions, and field-tested recommendations will prove invaluable to those involved in evaluating and improving teaching.

Now organized into five parts, this edition includes new information on web-based electronic teaching portfolios, descriptions of how seven colleges and universities have actually implemented portfolios, and 22 new sample teaching portfolios from an array of disciplines from accounting to theatre arts and a variety of institutions from large public universities to urban technological schools.

The book also includes

An expanded list of 31 possible items that might appear in portfolios

An enhanced section on the process of self-reflection

A new section on cautions to consider in preparing a portfolio

New suggestions for updating portfolios

New resources for portfolio development

New red-flag warnings and benchmarks for success

Ways to differentiate between portfolios created for personnel decisions and those created for teaching improvement

Genres: Teaching, Education

268 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely helpful as I put together my 3rd year review at a university (it's pre-cursor to a tenure packet). Each chapter is straightforward, and half of the book is examples of teaching portfolios to help the reader see how it should all come together. This set of information was invaluable as I tried to organize and determine what was worth mentioning, and what to leave out completely.

I also read the academic portfolio book. I found the two to be rather redundant, I think you could get away with having only one of them as a reference. I'm not sure which one I'd pick; probably this one since the teaching aspect of the portfolio requires more work.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is focused on teaching portfolios for professors/higher education; so not exactly what I was looking for. It still did have applicable information for K-12 educators looking to put together a portfolio. It discusses centering the portfolio around your philosophy and ideals. Therefore, each item included should be evidence that supports your ideals.

The book also seemed a little repetitive.