The teacher who explores the limits. “Every child is talented in something, it must be valued”

Adina Stratulat constantly innovates in the classroom, and the results are remarkable. Her students come up with topics for lessons, are creative, know the benefits of teamwork and know how to apply what they learn in class to real life.

Adina Stratulat (47 years old), a teacher at the “George Tutoveanu” Secondary School in Bârlad (Vaslui), was designated a MERITO teacher in 2023 for her unconventional teaching methods in the classroom, but also because she is a trainer for other teachers.

She graduated from the Pedagogical High School and was employed as a teacher at the school in her native village, Brădești, and after five years she attended the “Al.I. Cuza” Iasi, from Bârlad.

He has 27 years of teaching experience, but remembers that at first he didn't feel like he had found his place. The responsibility seemed huge to him, especially in primary education, when children make their first contact with school.

“I thought if I did something wrong, I might leave my mark on the kids for a long time,” told Adina Stratulat for “Weekend Adevărul”. She then realized that she is exactly where she needs to be, and what keeps her going after so many years is the energy of the children and the fact that every school day is different.

First student, then teacher

The teacher introduced several atypical teaching methods to the class. For example, he replaced some of the worksheets with games on the interactive board, with apps, songs, programming and dances. This makes it much easier for students to implement their projects when an idea comes to them in class.

“You can't keep kids in front of a sheet for four hours. They then combine traditional learning – with textbooks and notebooks – with activities that make them happy, stimulate and challenge them. They also share the satisfaction of the immediate feedback that certain applications give you”, supports the teacher.

Adina attended courses at the European Space Agency on robotics and the use of information about the Earth seen from space, in Norway on gamification and the integration of the design thinking process, and in Iceland on project-based learning.

He also learned about working with children from vulnerable groups. “Beyond what you bring to the classroom, how you develop as a person also matters a lot. It is a permanent connection to news, and if you consider that you learn something every day, all this will be reflected in what you pass on to the children”explains the teacher.

The European Space Agency has a special program dedicated to primary education teachers, and Adina aimed to see where she could integrate it into the areas of STEM disciplines in Romania and how she could improve her classroom teaching methods through it: “I thought about what I can bring new to the classroom and what I can improve, so that the children's interest always remains high”.

Teacher for teachers

Through project-based learning, Adina Stratulat brings her students into real life, and all the ideas they hear in class make sense to them.

“Students thus become their own course design creators. Initially, they receive some milestones, some challenges, but later they are the ones who will find the solutions”, points the teacher. For example, the little ones find out how water can pass through several states of aggregation and thus understand the phenomena that occur in nature.

Adina Stratulat trains teachers through CRED, an independent project with educational resources, and is a mentor for Teach for Romania beginners.

“I thought that this way I could make better use of what I learned, but I also had a lot to gain. I discovered wonderful people, from whom I learned a lot”, says the teacher.

Together with her husband, a professor of Information and Communication Technology, she created a course on how teachers can use free applications from Google, which she has been supporting for three years at Casa Corpului Didactic Vaslui. The course was approved by the Ministry of Education, and Adina says it came as an answer to a need.

“During the pandemic, when all schools went online, we had to find a solution to be able to work with the students. Many teachers chose to use Google's platform because it was intuitive and easy to use. I had implemented this platform at my school and then expanded its use”, explains the teacher.

School class: Smurf community

Adina also involves her students in volunteer actions with their parents. For example, they all went to a waste sorting station outside Bârlad, where each little one left plastic bottles, used batteries, bags and boxes full of recyclable waste, after the teacher explained to them how important it is for everyone to live in an environment as clean as possible.

He also once took them to a printing house, so that the students could see how wood is turned into a book. For three generations, she has called her class “the Smurfs”, because the title helps her show the little ones that the strength of the community comes from each of us, precisely because we are different and have something to learn from each other.

“At our first meeting, I tell them the story of the Smurfs, even though it's no longer a new and original name. I stayed in this area because it is a story that can be used in different contexts. They learn that the Smurfs are a close-knit community, in which each of them takes care of the other and there is always an emphasis on each character in the story, because everyone is talented at something”, explains Adina the context in which she uses the concept to connect with real life for children.

The message that emerges from the story is that the little ones should never compare themselves with others and be happy with who they are, because everyone is unique and valuable in their own way. It's a story she uses often to build her students' self-confidence, but also to bring them together.

The little ones thus learn to be independent and creative and manage to quickly find solutions with what they have at hand in the situations they face. The teacher teaches them to think critically, to always be open, brave and confident in their own strength.

Her classes do not lack personal development lessons, where the little ones develop empathy and learn to better manage their emotions and communicate effectively.

“The idea I want them to stick with is that together we are stronger. Always compare themselves only to themselves, and if every day they manage to progress a little bit, it's a big thing”, is the lesson that the teacher wants her students to stay with.