The Teaching Dossier
The teaching dossier is a condensed record of teaching activities and
accomplishments drawn up by the university teacher or TA.
Now more than ever, institutions and individual faculty members are being asked to provide evidence of the quality of teaching and learning which occurs on campus. In 1989, former Dalhousie President Howard Clark stated that in future he "would be prepared to recommend promotion and/or tenure . . . for those cases in which there was clearly documented evidence of teaching ability." At Dalhousie University there is a growing interest in the teaching dossier as a method to record the contribution of faculty members to the enhancement of the pedagogical process through their teaching activities.
While you, as a graduate or senior undergraduate student, are just beginning your teaching, and your experiences in this area may be few, now is the time to begin recording your teaching accomplishments. Compiling a dossier may help you obtain a positi on in the future. Keeping documentation of outstanding work, letters of praise, and positive student evaluations of your teaching will help to build a comprehensive dossier, and perhaps give you some encouragement at times when it seems that teaching is n ot such a great way to make a living.