Cosmina Simona Lungoci
West University of Timisoara
Timisoara, Romania
How did you begin your career, and what led you to your current position?
I have been teaching at the university since I graduated in 2003. I always wanted a teaching career.
What is the biggest challenge in your current role?
The biggest challenge in my current role is the large number of courses I teach and undergraduate theses I coordinate, which does not allow me to carry out as many research activities as I would like.
What are you reading (personal or professional)?
I mostly read books from the professional sphere, didactics of language teaching and literacy development. I am also interested in the field of sustainable development and the integration of this topic in the education of school and preschool children.
What do you consider to be your proudest career moment?
The professional activity of which I am proudest is the establishment, within the university where I work, of a postgraduate program entitled Literacy in Primary Education: Challenges and Solutions.
What do you like to do when you’re not wearing your educator hat?
I really like to travel, read, walk, and do sports. I also like to attend personal and professional development courses.
What advice would you give a new teacher that either you received or wish you had?
Don’t try to please everyone; you can’t. To do your job as well as possible so that you are satisfied with yourself at the end of the day.
What is a little-known fact about yourself?
I notice more things around me than I let others believe.
What can literacy educators do to motivate kids to want to read?
Read them something according to their age and interests so they learn that through reading they can discover other worlds.
What do you believe is the biggest challenge in literacy education today?
In the Romanian context, the biggest literacy challenge is orthographically incorrect writing.
What is the most important lesson you learned from a student?
That persistence leads to winning in the end.
What has changed the most in education since you first started in the field?
The relationship between the teacher and the students and the integration of technologies.
What is your favorite book to give as a present/recommend to friends?
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
What book hooked you as a reader for life?
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris