5 Step-by-Step Portfolio Creation

Figure 1 outlines a cyclical process for approaching the creation or revision of a teaching portfolio. Next, each step is expanded upon.

Step 1. Consider your context

Start your portfolio process by considering the purpose and audience for your portfolio. Contemplate how you contribute to McMaster’s long-standing culture of teaching excellence and where you situate yourself in relation to some of the University’s strategic priorities related to teaching and learning. Review McMaster’s mission, vision, and strategy articulated by the Offices of the Provost and the President of McMaster. Check your Faculty and/or departmental website for more localized or discipline-specific information on academic goals and teaching values. Reach out to colleagues and your Chair to share your perspectives on your local teaching and learning culture (and your contributions to it) and to get their insights.

As needed, revisit institutional guides as they may prove helpful to you in identifying your strengths as an educator, or shaping goals you have for your future teaching. At this stage, it is also wise to ensure you are familiar with McMaster policy related to the evaluation of teaching. Chapter VI: Refining Your Portfolio: Feedback, Resources, and Policy provides links to a collection of McMaster University resources, guides, and policy documents to help you with this review and reflection on your strengths.

Regardless of whether your position is a Contractually Limited Appointment (CLA), tenure-track, or teaching-track, familiarizing yourself with institutional priorities and recommended practices, as well as disciplinary and department norms, can help provide important context when crafting a compelling narrative for your teaching portfolio.

Step 2. Collect supporting evidence

Begin collecting evidence of your teaching effectiveness. The goal at this stage is to compile all the evidence you have access to, which will prompt you to consider your accomplishments and what you may wish to highlight in your portfolio. Later on, you will narrow down this collection into a meaningful subset of evidence for inclusion in your teaching portfolio.

Your collection of evidence may include references from former students and colleagues, mid-semester feedback solicited to improve teaching and learning, invited peer reviews of your teaching, and more. You may choose to create a folder (physical and/or digital) to place your evidence into, or alternatively you may opt to make a list of where to find each item of evidence for future reference.

Once you have such a comprehensive file or list, exemplary items that best demonstrate your accomplishments and multifaceted skillset as an educator can be easily pulled for inclusion in your portfolio later in the process, once you have determined what values, skills, or accomplishments you most want to convey.

If you are beginning the work of collecting this evidence now or eager to diversify the types of evidence you have to show, you may wish to look ahead to Chapter V: Selecting Evidence for your Portfolio for ideas. Time permitting, this may help you plan ahead to have collected specific types of evidence for your portfolio. For additional ideas, check out Chapter VII: Teaching Portfolio Assessment (for Chairs, Peers, and Reviewers), which features a table with types of evidence organized into categories that reviewers may expect to see in a portfolio.

Step 3. Craft your narrative

A portfolio “is not only a compilation of teaching-related material. It states a case for the approach you take to teaching” (Knapper & Wilcox, 2007, p. 5). With that in mind, once you have completed steps one and two, turn your efforts to writing your Description of Teaching Philosophy. Articulating what you believe about teaching and learning early in the process is critical. This piece becomes the thesis, creating an authentic and meaningful narrative for the presentation of evidence throughout the rest of the portfolio (Schönwetter et al., 2002).

Next, describe what you actually do to realize your beliefs in your Description of Teaching Practice. Here, you can reflect upon the impacts your specific teaching approaches have had on your students’ learning and your development as an educator.

Once your philosophy statement and description of practice are well in hand, continue with the next sections of your core portfolio (i.e., Part A: Executive Summary). Meanwhile, make note of which evidence collected in Step 2 should be included in Part B: Supporting Documentation to best support these claims. Together, Parts A and B convey a convincing narrative about your effectiveness as an educator. Further details on the requirements of a SPS B2-compliant teaching portfolio can be found in Chapter IV: Fulfilling McMaster’s SPS B2 Requirements.

Step 4. Review and revise

Once you have finished writing, review your portfolio for clarity, internal alignment, and persuasiveness. As you read, consider whether your portfolio presents an accurate and honest portrait of your approach to teaching (Knapper & Wilcox, 2007). You might also consider asking a colleague or an educational developer to read the document and offer feedback. Chapter VI: Refining Your Portfolio: Feedback, Resources, and Policy and provides suggestions around soliciting peer feedback on your teaching portfolio.

Step 5. Update annually

A teaching portfolio is a living document that provides maximum benefit when regularly revisited, fostering ongoing reflection on your growth as an educator. Consider updating your portfolio annually with new examples of your development in advance of your annual review with your Department Chair. Aligning these updates with the completion of your annual Record of Activities (RoA) can be efficient, allowing you to expand on the accomplishments listed in the teaching section of your RoA.

Updating your teaching portfolio regularly will not only enrich your conversation with your Chair but can inform a comprehensive Teaching Evaluation Report. This report, typically written by your Department Chair, is included in your dossier for tenure, promotion, or permanence processes. Additionally, ongoing conversations about your teaching with your Chair can also prove valuable when you seek reference letters for teaching award applications or hiring processes.