Teaching Philosophy

Professor Ionescu’s teaching style relies on the principles of adult learning theory and action. She has been teaching at the post-secondary level since 2014 and sees her role in the classroom as a co-explorer, rather than the traditional “sage-on-the-stage” professor. For her, education is transformative.  She believes that educators are the gatekeepers to a future with limitless opportunities. Her positionality as an educator draws on her own experiences as a student. Her aim as a professor is to create the needed conditions for students to be passionate about education, grow their creative potential, and be involved within their learning process through intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The overall goal for her is to lead students toward a sympathetic understanding of life that crosses cultural divides and connects people based on basic human truths (e.g., kindness, patience, consideration, achieving greatness, passion, finding internal strength, and finding the passion within). Through structured course design, accessible instructional material, communicated class expectations, assignment instructions and deadlines, students are fully included as responsible partners for their class work and academic progress. Summative assessments, as part of the learning process, are delivered through syllabus course objectives and based on each lecture’s objectives. Formative assessments are conducted through case studies, group and individual activities (in and outside class), and experiential learning projects. Through ongoing feedback, students are able to assess their learning progress incrementally. Professor Ionescu makes her courses relevant and important to students in their degree and careers. She knows that students gain valuable transferable skills (e.g., scientific writing, literature review, critical thinking) if they are able to connect the class material to “real” world application in the students’ areas of interest. The synergy that Professor Ionescu creates in the classroom with her students is intended to foster a growth mindset. Her mid-term and end-of-the-term teaching evaluations (anonymous, formal and informal) receive good and excellent scores, which indicates that she genuinely cares about her students and she’s truly passionate about the subjects she teaches.