Laila Abu Hassoun works as an academic advisor in the Center for Academic Success and Achievement (CASA) at Hamline University. She received a PhD in curriculum and instruction from the University of Toledo. Laila's research focuses on teacher education and professional development; her educational background is in designing and evaluating curricula, emphasizing the cognitive, emotional, and social needs of learners. Her educational philosophy is led by the belief that she and her students are on a lifelong journey of learning through which they guide each other. Lifelong learning involves the tools and strategies that can be applied in various situations. Her educational experience has made her realize how important values are to be an effective educator. Her most important educational values are openness/flexibility, trial and error, lifelong learning, student empowerment, mutual relationships, multiculturalism, and judgment-free learning environments.
Prior to Hamline, Laila worked as a world language teacher teaching Arabic as a second language in a public charter school. She was the only Arabic teacher teaching K-8 at the school who held a bachelor’s degree in the Arabic language and literature, a master's in education, and a PhD in curriculum and instruction.
