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Print Version
What Is a Teaching Portfolio?

Portfolios provide documented evidence of teaching from a variety of sources-not just student ratings-and provide context for that evidence.

The process of selecting and organizing material for a portfolio can help one reflect on and improve one's teaching.

Portfolios are a step toward a more public, professional view of teaching as a scholarly activity.

Portfolios can offer a look at development over time, helping one see teaching as on ongoing process of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection.

Teaching portfolios capture evidence of one's entire teaching career, in contrast to what are called course portfolios that capture evidence related to a single course.

Why Assemble a Teaching Portfolio?

Portfolios can serve any of the following purposes.

Job applicants for faculty positions can use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness.

Faculty members up for promotion or tenure can also use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness.

Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios to reflect on and refine their teaching skills and philosophies.

Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios, particularly ones shared online, to "go public" with their teaching to invite comments from their peers and to share teaching successes so that their peers can build on them. For more on going public with one's teaching, see the CFT's Teaching Guide on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

General Guidelines

Start now! Many of the possible components of a teaching portfolio (see list below) are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain after you have finished teaching a course. Collecting these components as you go will make assembling your final portfolio much easier.

Give a fair and accurate presentation of yourself. Don't try to present yourself as the absolutely perfect teacher. Highlight the positive, of course, but don't completely omit the negative.

Be selective in which materials you choose to include, though be sure to represent a cross-section of your teaching and not just one aspect of it. A relatively small set of well-chosen documents is more effective than a large, unfiltered collection of all your teaching documents.

Make your organization explicit to the reader. Use a table of contents at the beginning and tabs to separate the various components of your portfolio.

Make sure every piece of evidence in your portfolio is accompanied by some sort of context and explanation. For instance, if you include a sample lesson plan, make sure to describe the course, the students, and, if you have actually used the lesson plan, a reflection on how well it worked.

Components of a Teaching Portfolio

1. Your Thoughts About Teaching

A reflective "teaching statement" describing your personal teaching philosophy, strategies, and objectives (see Teaching Philosophy).

A personal statement describing your teaching goals for the next few years

2. Documentation of Your Teaching

A list of courses taught and/or TAed, with enrollments and a description of your responsibilities

Number of advisees, graduate and undergraduate

Syllabi

Course descriptions with details of content, objectives, methods, and procedures for evaluating student learning

Reading lists

Assignments

Exams and quizzes, graded and ungraded

Handouts, problem sets, lecture outlines

Descriptions and examples of visual materials used

Descriptions of uses of computers and other technology in teaching

Videotapes of your teaching

3. Teaching Effectiveness

Summarized student evaluations of teaching, including response rate and relationship to departmental average

Written comments from students on class evaluations

Comments from a peer observer or a colleague teaching the same course

Statements from colleagues in the department or elsewhere, regarding the preparation of students for advanced work

Letters from students, preferably unsolicited

Letters from course head, division head or chairperson

Statements from alumni

4. Materials Demonstrating Student Learning

Scores on standardized or other tests, before and after instruction

Students' lab books or other workbooks

Students' papers, essays, or creative works

Graded work from the best and poorest students, with teacher's feedback to students

Instructor's written feedback on student work

5. Activities to Improve Instruction

Participation in seminars or professional meetings on teaching

Design of new courses

Design of interdisciplinary or collaborative courses or teaching projects

Use of new methods of teaching, assessing learning, grading

Preparation of a textbook, lab manual, courseware, etc.

Description of instructional improvement projects developed or carried out

6. Contributions to the Teaching Profession and/or Your Institution

Publications in teaching journals

Papers delivered on teaching

Reviews of forthcoming textbooks

Service on teaching committees

Assistance to colleagues on teaching matters

Work on curriculum revision or development

7. Honors, Awards, or Recognitions

Teaching awards from department, college, or university

Teaching awards from profession

Invitations based on teaching reputation to consult, give workshops, write articles, etc.

Requests for advice on teaching by committees or other organized groups

Sample Teaching Portfolios

The website from University of Virginia provides sample teaching portfolios from a variety of disciplines. As you look at these portfolios, ask yourself,

"What components did the author choose to include and which ones are most effective at describing their teaching?" and

"What structural and organizational decisions did the author make as they assembled their portfolio?"

Sample Portfolios from the University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center
Electronic Teaching Portfolios

How do electronic portfolios differ from print portfolios?

Increased Accessibility: Teaching portfolios are intended, in part, to make teaching public. Distributing a portfolio on the web makes it even more accessible to peers and others.

Multimedia Documents: Technology allows for inclusion of more than just printed documents. For example, you can include video footage of yourself teaching, an audio voiceover providing context and reflection on the portfolio, or instructional computer programs or code you have written.

Nonlinear Thinking: The web facilitates nonlinear relationships between the components of your teaching portfolio. The process of creating a portfolio in this nonlinear environment can help you think about your teaching in new ways. For example, since readers can explore an e-portfolio in many different ways, constructing an e-portfolio gives you an opportunity to consider how different audiences might encounter and understand your work.

Copyright and Privacy Issues: While examples of student work can be compelling evidence of your teaching effectiveness, publishing these examples online presents legal copyright and privacy issues. Talk to someone at the VU Compliance Program before doing so.

What Role Do Teaching Portfolios Play on the Job Market?

According to an October 11, 2005, search on HigherEdJobs.com, of the 1,000 ads for faculty jobs...

585 include the words "teaching philosophy,"

27 include the words "teaching statement," and

28 include the words "teaching portfolio."

According to an October 11, 2005, search on Chronicle.com, of the 2,978 ads for faculty/research jobs...

388 include the words "teaching philosophy,"

5 include the words "teaching statement," and

8 include the words "teaching portfolio."

While these data indicate that teaching portfolios are not frequently requested of job applicants to faculty positions, it is not just the physical document that plays a role. The process of constructing a teaching portfolio-and reflecting on your teaching-will prepare you to...

write a meaningful teaching philosophy statement and

to discuss your teaching more effectively during interviews.

Other Resources

The following books on teaching portfolios are available for check-out in the Center for Teaching's library.

Seldin, Peter, The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions, 3rd edition, Anker, 2004.

Cambridge, Barbara, Electronic Portfolios: Emerging Practices in Student, Faculty, and Institutional Learning, American Association for Higher Education, 2001.

Hutchings, Pat, ed., The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine Their Teaching to Advance Practice and Improve Student Learning, American Association for Higher Education, 1998.

Murray, John P., Successful Faculty Development and Evaluation: The Complete Teaching Portfolio, ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, 1997.

Anderson, Erin, ed., Campus Use of the Teaching Portfolio: Twenty-Five Profiles, American Association for Higher Education, 1993.

The following web sites offer additional resources and strategies for creating effective teaching portfolios:

Developing a Teaching Portfolio, from the Center for Instructional Development and Research at the University of Washington

Developing a Teaching Portfolio, from the Office of Faculty and TA Development, The Ohio State University

The Teaching Portfolio, an Occasional Paper from the University of Michigan's Center for Research on Learning and Teaching

What is a Teaching Portfolio?, from the Office of Instructional Consultation, UCSB.

Curating A Teaching Portfolio, from the Center for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Texas-Austin

The Teaching Portfolio, from the Center for Teaching Excellence at Duquesne University

Teaching Portfolio Handbook, from Brown University

"The Teaching Portfolio," an article published by the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education

This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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Teaching Portfolios. Print Version What Is a Teaching Portfolio? Why Assemble a Teaching Portfolio? General Guidelines Components of a Teaching Portfolio Sample Teaching Portfolios Electronic Teaching Portfolios What Role Do Teaching Portfolios Play on the Job Market? Other Resources What Is a Teaching Portfolio?

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Why talk about reflecting on teaching, one week in?

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Why talk about reflecting on teaching, one week in?

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Hindsight is a great teacher, more so if you prepare well for it. Keeping records from the beginning minimises the burden of reviewing experiences at semesters's end - and facilitates working them into a competitive CV.

What kind of record-keeping? For instance: Jot down student/subject coordinator praise, as soon as you receive it - it's so easy to forget the good stuff. Note your impressions after trying an innovative teaching tactic (what worked, what needs changing for next time...). Keep a tally of your informal contributions to academic community, e.g. informal mentoring of grad students, attendance at T&L committee or program meetings and training seminars, invited article peer reviews for a journal, etc. These experiences can all translate into robust lines on a CV - but only if you remember you had them.

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Alessandra La Rocca Link is a guest author and PhD student in history at the University of Colorado, Boulder. You can find her on Twitter at @AlessandraLink2.
Many graduate students first "meet" the teaching portfolio on the job market. A hiring committee might ask for tangible evidence of teaching experience. A job posting may request a teaching portfolio from all applicants. In most cases, graduate students cobble something together last minute.

Much like teaching journals, however, teaching portfolios warrant our ongoing attention as graduate students. The earlier you start compiling relevant teaching materials and thinking critically about your teaching experience, the better both the portfolio and your prospects on the job market. The latest higher-ed reports point to an increase in part-time and community college employment. In both cases, a strong teaching sensibility carries a lot of weight. A curated collection of teaching-related information will only strengthen your prospects in a job climate tailored towards teaching-heavy positions.

With that in mind, what should we be putting into these teaching portfolios? The main ingredients should reflect both your teaching philosophy and experience in the classroom. According to Laura T. Border's "Outline for a Socratic or Professional Academic Portfolio," key components include:

A philosophy of teaching and learning. This document should outline your teaching perspective. When possible, ground your opinions in your teaching experiences. Consider outlining views on particular pedagogical methods such as lecturing, collaborative learning, group work, service learning, etc. Be explicit about how you integrate your philosophy into your teaching practice.

A teaching biography. This portion of the portfolio allows you to elaborate on the teaching experiences simply listed on your C.V. What courses have you taught? Have you been a guest lecturer? Have you worked with technology in the classroom? Expanding on your experiences familiarizes the reader with your teaching achievements.

Assessment and evaluation of student learning. Describe how you evaluate students in your courses. For example, how do you approach evaluations for in-class work as opposed to out-of-class work? How do you assess a student's written and oral performance? When possible, include documents that demonstrate your assessment philosophy. Sample assignments, quizzes, and exams would be useful additions here.

Assessment and evaluation of your teaching. Time to insert those glowing reviews of your courses, either from students or faculty evaluators. When possible, invite fellow graduate students or faculty to sit in on your class and provide feedback. This quantifiable evidence of your teaching performance will be a valuable addition to the portfolio.

These topic areas should be considered worthwhile starting points, not fixed requirements. In truth, there is a considerable degree of flexibility in teaching portfolios. They will range in form and content according to your unique teaching experience. There are, however, a few important points to consider:
Have you had experience with teaching portfolios? What have you found most useful about these compilations? Any worthwhile additions/omissions to keep in mind? [Image by Flickr user Mennonite Church USA Archives used under creative commons licensing.]

Keep it short. Hiring committees are commonly strapped for time and mired in reading material. With that in mind, it's best to avoid handing them a 30-page teaching record. Portfolios should not run more than 10 pages, including the sample documents from your courses and evaluations. Many institutions will impose a page limit if they do request a portfolio, so always have a running priority list of content that will dictate what goes in and what goes out depending on page restrictions.

Keep it organized. A table of contents with a brief introduction will help committees navigate your portfolio. Place all sample documents/evidence in an appendix.

Consider going digital. There has been some debate over the effectiveness of digital portfolios that is worth looking into. In my view, going digital allows for ease of access while also demonstrating your digital fluency. When considering the various resources available for your portfolio (ePortfolios, Weebly, and Prezi are a few notable examples), it is important to think about who will be viewing your work and what purpose it will serve. For example, do you want your portfolio to generate a larger online conversation? If so, you may consider adding a comments section or "sharing" capabilities.

In conclusion, teaching portfolios provide job candidates with an opportunity to spotlight their teaching abilities. As with most graduate work, the more time you set aside for compiling and curating your portfolio the stronger the final product. Starting early will also limit last minute portfolio-making "frenzies." Compared to running a classroom, assembling a working teaching portfolio over the duration of your graduate career is not particularly daunting. You've done the hard work of teaching-just make sure to keep a documentary record.

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Compiling a Teaching Portfolio: An Introduction | GradHacker

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Alessandra La Rocca Link is a guest author and PhD student in history at the University of Colorado, Boulder. You can find her on Twitter at @AlessandraLink2 . Many graduate students first "meet" the teaching portfolio on the job market. A hiring committee might ask for tangible evidence of teaching experience.

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A more experienced college can help you understand what experiences you should be looking to accrue - and what records will matter.

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Mentoring: building relationships that benefit academic careers

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Though important to finding and keeping a job, not enough academics prioritise mentoring. Join us on Friday 10 August to explore how to foster networks for peer-to-peer support

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Arts' mentorship program starts Thursday week!

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Arts' mentorship program starts Thursday week!

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Obviously, the placing of one's teaching practice under continual self-review. But there's more to be said that might persuade you of the personal and professional benefits - and more to be thunk in terms of self-reflective tactics that won't bore you out of your branch :

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Examples of Self-Assessment

Reflection Journals: Instructors might consider capturing a few details of their teaching in a journal to create an ongoing narrative of their teaching across terms and years. Scheduling a dedicated time during the 5 or so minutes after class to write their entries will ensure continual engagement, rather than hoping to find a moment throughout the day. The instructor writes general thoughts about the day's lesson and might reflect on the following questions: What went well today? What could I have done differently? How will I modify my instruction in the future?

Teaching Inventories: A number of inventories, like the Teaching Practices Inventory (Wieman and Gilbert, 2014), have been developed to help instructors assess and think more broadly about their teaching approaches. Inventories are typically designed to assess the extent to which particular pedagogies are employed (e.g. student- versus teacher-centered practices).

Video-Recorded Teaching Practices: Instructors may request the Poorvu Center to video record their lessons while conducting a classroom observation, or instructors can video record themselves while teaching and use a classroom observation protocol to self-assess their own practices. Some Yale classrooms have video cameras installed for lecture capture, which instructors can then use for their self assessment.

Teaching Portfolio: A more time-intensive practice, the teaching portfolio invites instructors to integrate the various components of their teaching into a cohesive whole, typically starting with a teaching philosophy or statement, moving through sample syllabi and assignments, and ending with evaluations from colleagues and students.Though less focused on classroom practices, a portfolio is an opportunity to reflect on teaching overall. The Poorvu Center offers an opportunity for faculty new to Yale to complete a teaching intensive and reflective program, the Faculty Teaching Academy, which includes a culminating portfolio. Faculty who complete the program will receive a contribution to their research or professional development budgets. The University of Washington CTL offers best practices for creating a teaching portfolio.

Examples of External Assessment

Student Evaluations (Midterm and End-of-Term): In many courses, instructors obtain feedback from students in the form of mid-semester feedback and/or end-of-term student evaluations. Because of potential bias, instructors should consider student evaluations as one data source in their instruction and take note of any prevailing themes (Basow, 1995; Watchel, 1998; Huston, 2005; Reid, L. (2010); Basow, S.A. & Martin, J.L. (2012) ). They can seek out other ways to assess their practices to accompany student evaluation data before taking steps to modify instruction. The Poorvu Center offers consultations regarding mid-semester feedback data collected. They will also conduct small group feedback sessions with an instructor's students to provide non-evaluative, anonymous conversation notes from students in addition to the traditional survey format. If instructors are interested in sustained feedback over time from a student perspective, then they can also participate in the Pedagogical Partners program.

Peer Review of Teaching: Instructors can ask a trusted colleague to observe their classroom and give them feedback on their teaching. Colleagues can agree on an observation protocol or a list of effective teaching principles to focus on from a teaching practices inventory.

Classroom Observations: Any instructor at Yale may request an observation with feedback from a member of the Poorvu Center staff. Observations are meant to be non-evaluative and promote reflection. They begin with a discussion in which the instructor describes course goals and format as well as any issues or teaching practices that are of primary concern. This initial discussion provides useful context for the observation and the post-observation conversation.

References

Basow, S.A. (1995). Student evaluations of college professors: When gender matters. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87(4): 656-665.

Basow, S.A. & Martin, J.L. (2012). Bias in student evaluations. In M.E. Kite (Ed.), Effective evaluation of teaching: A guide for faculty and administrators. Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Brookfield, S. (2017). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Huston, T. (2005). Report: Empirical Research on the Impact of Race and Gender in the Evaluation of Teaching. Retrieved 3/10/17 from Seattle University, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning website.

Reid, L. (2010). The Role of Perceived Race and Gender in the Evaluation of College Teaching on RateMyProfessors.com. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 3 (3): 137-152.

Wachtel, H.K. (1998). Student Evaluation of College Teaching Effectiveness: A Brief Review. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 23(2): 191-212.

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Reflection Journals: Instructors might consider capturing a few details of their teaching in a journal to create an ongoing narrative of their teaching across terms and years. Scheduling a dedicated time during the 5 or so minutes after class to write their entries will ensure continual engagement, rather than hoping to find a moment throughout the day.

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Peer review of teaching can be illuminating. (And good for network-building. And good for showing your commitment to quality.)

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What do UoM colleagues have to say about it?

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What do UoM colleagues have to say about it?

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Mindful reflection on teaching: an investment in your future - or a distraction from it?

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Mindful reflection on teaching: an investment in your future - or a distraction from it?

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"As a postgraduate student how do you best navigate [...] casual teaching in order to maximise the experience for your CV without taking your eye off what is really valued in the sector, your research output?"
Dr Robin May has sobering findings to impart - but her advice to milk your teaching contract for what it can pay forward is worth clinging to.

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This post, by Robin May of Melbourne University, is on a matter close to my own heart - casual teaching. Sessional lecturers, or 'adjuncts' as they are sometimes called in the United States, are an increasingly common feature of the Higher Education workforce worldwide. I was a sessional lecturer for 11 years. While some of that time it suited me to be free and easy, eventually the lack of secure employment started to grate. I was not eligible for a mortgage and I started to resent the full time lecturers for their travel budgets, superannuation and ability to take holidays at will. So when Robin, who is actually doing her PhD on the issue, offered a post I jumped at the chance to publish it!
Robyn is a Research Fellow at University of Melbourne and her recently submitted PhD examines the causes and implications of insecure academic employment in Australia's public universities. The research is part of a wider ARC project at Griffith University looking at gender and employment equity in the university sector. Before undertaking her PhD Robyn worked for the National Tertiary Education Union, and has also worked as a researcher and casual academic at RMIT University, and in research positions in New Zealand and the UK.
Having recently submitted my PhD with timely support and advice from various thesis whisperer posts, I thought that the findings from my PhD might be of use to those of you in the thesis whisperer community.

My PhD was an investigation of the casualisation of academic work in Australian universities. My research involved a large survey of casual academic staff across 19 universities and interviews with casual academics. I also worked as a casual tutor and researcher during my studies. The research was part of a wider ARC Linkage project examining gender equity in Australian universities, based at Griffith University. My own interest in this particular topic stemmed from a background in trade unions and from working on other research projects examining insecure work. I was also very conscious that this was a topic that had not received the attention it deserved and the investigation was timely if somewhat depressing!

My purpose in writing this post was really to synthesise some general advice, based on my findings, for post-graduate students who juggle casual teaching along with their studies. In particular my comments are aimed at those who take on casual teaching work in the hope that it will assist their aspirations for an academic career. I acknowledge that not all of those who teach on a casual basis in our universities do so because they want this career. The casual teaching workforce is highly diverse, both in terms of motivations and life stage, which can mean that the needs of those who are seeking an academic career are ignored.

The highly insecure nature of much of the work (both teaching and research) in universities is only beginning to be raised in wider public discussion. My research, using our survey data and analysis of the university staff superannuation fund, shows that casual academic staff are the majority, on a headcount basis, of academic staff across Australia's universities.

This casual workforce undertakes a large proportion of the undergraduate teaching in the sector. Casual academics are younger, and more likely to be female than their continuing academic counterparts, and the survey data showed that the majority already have, or are working toward, a PhD qualification. Most would like a more secure academic position and only one in ten say that casual work is their preferred option.

By casual academic staff I mean those who tutor, lecture and demonstrate on an hourly rate basis, and I use the word casual, rather than 'sessional', deliberately, because I think it is important not to lose sight of this most essential nature of the employment arrangement, its hourly rate basis. Whilst the capacity to employ academic teaching staff on an hourly rate is not new, what is new is the size and scale of the casual workforce, the growing separation of this workforce from the continuing academic workforce, and the length of time many aspiring academics spend in casual employment before they get their first continuing appointment, if indeed they ever do.

All of this is occurring in a context where students are paying more for their university education than ever before, the student population is highly diverse, and the implications of a highly casualised workforce are enormous. The evidence suggests that universities will continue to expect much from their casual teaching staff, promising little security and support in return, and that this workforce will keep growing. As a postgraduate student how do you best navigate the 'flattering' offers of casual teaching in order to maximise the experience for your CV without taking your eye off what is really valued in the sector, your research output?

Understand how the hourly rate works: I know of new tutors who spend up to 8 hours preparing for a one hour tutorial. They would earn a better hourly rate at McDonalds! The tutorial rate, for example, includes 2 hours of payment for preparation, administration and student consultation. Every extra hour you spend with that needy student or on that time wasting administration process decreases your hourly rate and eats into your study/writing time. Set clear boundaries and let the academic you work with know if you feel you are being forced to work beyond that you are paid for. Some universities are introducing extra payments such as paying for a weekly student consultation hour separately.

Remember that teaching one semester is no guarantee of work the next, so don't assume you will get economies of scale when you develop that fabulous course in your spare time. And that the intellectual property belongs to the university who employed you to write it (even if it was a 'love job').

Take advantage of any professional development on offer: some universities are better than others in offering basic training for tutors. Many academic colleagues are not aware of what is on offer so you may need to make inquiries of other staff in your faculty or approach the teaching and learning area of your university.

Beware the casual teaching trap: Topping up your scholarship with some casual teaching can be useful financially and for your CV however years spent in casual teaching employment beyond PhD completion can detract from the search for a more secure appointment rather than enhance the chances of scoring that better job. This is largely because of the time-consuming nature of the work and its detrimental impact on research productivity.

Have a plan for how long you will work as a casual after your PhD completion. My research suggests that if you have not found a more secure position within three years of PhD completion it is increasingly unlikely that you ever will.

Understand the marking formula: If your university pays you to mark three exam scripts in an hour then mark at least three scripts an hour if not more.

Tread warily with course coordination: While this is not a task that is supposed to be undertaken by casual staff, the practice is widespread across the sector. Course coordination is stressful and comes with a high workload which is very likely to derail study progress. Proceed very carefully.

A love of teaching is not enough! Many of the casual academics I interviewed told me how much they enjoyed teaching and interacting with students and how they got great student evaluations. The brutal truth in the sector is, however, no matter how good a teacher you are it is unlikely to be the factor that secures you an academic position. A little teaching experience counts on the CV but ultimately we are judged on our research outputs, and the competition is fierce. Not only are fewer academic positions coming up but there are large numbers of highly qualified international applicants bidding for those positions.

The shape of things to come: The academic labour market has changed rapidly over the past decade and those who suggest there are likely to be opportunities open up when the baby boomer generation retire have got it wrong.

Many of the baby boomers who do retire are hired back as casuals - universities recognise this as a potent source of trained labour.

Academic work is rapidly changing; technology, outsourcing and funding constraints are likely to contribute to further shrinking of the continuing teaching and research academic labour force and increase the bifurcation between 'secure' and insecure academic work. Universities are getting better at 'managing' casual academics and will increasingly resort to student evaluations to determine hiring and to mediate quality concerns, particularly where there is a good supply of casual labour (that is a large post-graduate cohort).

Finally if you think the fact that our universities are being propped up by an insecure and often exploited workforce and this bothers you, do something about it. Join the union. Talk with fellow casual staff about the situation. Find out about your university's collective agreement and whether your university has adopted any new provisions or policies to create more secure academic positions, or if they have resisted these claims in bargaining ask why.

This discussion all points to a wider question about what purpose the PhD and what role universities should play in providing realistic career advice about post PhD options beyond the academic career path. A whole new post!

Love to hear your thoughts.
Related Links What's your edge? How to get a job in academia when you finish your PhD

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Is it possible to escape the casual teaching trap?

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This post, by Robin May of Melbourne University, is on a matter close to my own heart - casual teaching. Sessional lecturers, or 'adjuncts' as they are sometimes called in the United States, are an increasingly common feature of the Higher Education workforce worldwide. I was a sessional lecturer for 11 years.