Teaching in Philosophy - strategies

[Duns Eith]

I realize there's a variety of types of jobs that require teaching to different extents, lecturer/adjunct professor, full-time instructor, visiting assistant professor (VAP), and then the glorious shining jobs such as tenure-track assistant professor. Some schools are looking for tenure teachers (no research expected or necessary for advancement). I'm really fine with all of these options in the long-term, but obviously I give preference to tenure-track.

I'm currently in a PhD. I have a lot of teaching experience for a grad student who is 2 years into his PhD (12 classes as instructor of record, across 6 different phil courses), not including my experience as a grader/teaching assistant. I am in the PhD in large part to get myself in a position to teach. I am trying to gear myself in every way for that goal, more than research.

I've been emailing department chairs of local schools about teaching needs they might have. I have had friends who work at nearby universities to drop their name in my inquiry. I've gotten some professional references from my current profs who can speak to my teaching experience. I give invited presentations/talks often. I keep my CV up to the minute.

Any other suggestions how I should be going about this?

 

What do you think of the massive online platforms for teaching? I have a generally negative opinion of the industry and the direction it's taking. I won't name any "universities", but some of them seem if not cheesy then predatory. Could someone change my mind? Maybe I've generalized hastily.

For those who have taken certification programs for teaching, did you find it helpful? If you got a job in philosophy, do you think it gave your application any preference over your competitors?

Edited March 19, 2019 by Duns Eith

[mithrandir8]

I don't have any direct comment, but I wanted to link the philosopher's cocoon blog, which is a cool blog about early profession issues that writes a lot about teaching and getting hired at teaching schools.