Mention desire to teach in SOP?

[jigsawyouth]

Hi All,

 

Long-time lurker here, will be applying for Fall 2015 PhD entry in SocioCult Anthro.

 

I'm currently trying to pin down exactly how best to approach the cursed SOP, and haven't been able to find much info about mentioning one's desire to teach in the all important 'Why a PhD?' part. 

 

If I were to be purely and uncynically self-representative in my SOP, a large part would state that I mainly want to pursue a PhD in order to teach at the university level (I've been compiling syllabi for dreamy speculative classes since I was in high school). Having had tutoring and mentoring jobs in the past, I already know that I love to teach, and am extremely excited to find a home in a department that puts emphasis on grad teacher training, TAships and pedagogical methods. 

 

From my reading so far, however, it's clear that most departments are primarily looking for exciting researchers, people who will go on to do big things in the field and draw positive attention back to the department they graduated from, and for this reason I'm slightly reticent to devote too much attention to the pedagogical aspect of my future graduate training. 

 

So I'd love to hear your opinion, do you think that situating teaching as a primary drive to pursue a PhD could weaken my appearance as a strong and committed researcher? Could it put adcomms off my application if it seems like I might be Devoted, Exciting and Excellent Teacher first, and Profound, Pioneering and Money-making Researcher second? 

[Lisa44201]

So I'd love to hear your opinion, do you think that situating teaching as a primary drive to pursue a PhD could weaken my appearance as a strong and committed researcher? Could it put adcomms off my application if it seems like I might be Devoted, Exciting and Excellent Teacher first, and Profound, Pioneering and Money-making Researcher second? 

 

You do run that risk. Can you frame more in terms of being the ideal, well-rounded candidate - someone with an equal passion for the applied field as well as passing on that knowledge to the next generation of profound, pioneering, money-making researchers?

[bioarch_fan]

You could also add in the passion of teaching in the field as well.  I would state it sort of like, "My passion for teaching will help others understand the important facts of cultural anthropology" or state your specific area of interest in cultural anthropology and say why it will be important to help other people become more knowledgeable about that specific topic.  It's adding in the research aspect that most schools are looking for since it'll be almost impossible to find a good job post-graduation without having that research topic, and more research topics, on your CV and on your teaching application.  That will let the schools know that you are not only serious about teaching, but also with research.

[jmu]

I was told by multiple people not to include it. For whatever that's worth.

[jigsawyouth]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, great advice all round! I'm currently hoping that I'll be able to pull off the 'well-rounded' angle well enough to mention it briefly, but you've definitely encouraged me to resist making it a substantial feature. Weaving teaching into my research interest certainly seems like the best way to approach it. 

[socanth]

I've had an unsuccessful cycle (also very rushed application, which yours will not be given you're preparing now!) and this time round a successful one, and one of the most important things I learnt was that there were things that I felt very strongly about that shouldn't necessarily be expressed in what is essentially a research objective/significance pitch. Unless talking about teaching explicitly strengthens your pitch as a promising scholar - and for my issue I had to rely on other readers to judge it, as it was so important to me that I couldn't really see it clearly - then it shouldn't be there.

That said, if the programs you're applying to involve a certain amount of teaching, then it would be entirely appropriate to bring up teaching there, linking it into why you want to go to that school's program in particular.