“Our School” Professors: Lara Fina Ferrari and the Good Practice of the Cube
This is the sixth instalment of our series of interviews with “Our School” Professors. Today, we interview Lara Fina Ferrari, the first-degree secondary school teacher who developed, together with colleague Fortuna Testa, the fifth unit of Integrated Digital Citizenship and Sustainability in Primary School (Erickson, 2023) entitled “The Cube: A Good Practice.”
The good practice of the cube introduces the construction of a cube to present a single topic from multiple points of view and/or subjects. The good practice is inclusive and based on task culture. Moreover, it presents an opportunity to experience a stimulating learning situation in the classroom that creates a positive emotional climate, motivating the class and driving students o interact with each other.
INTERVIEW
Can you summarize the activity you conducted and addressed in the book?
In the book, together with my colleague Fortuna Testa, I addressed "The Cube: A Good Practice," tested in the school where I work at the Istituto Comprensivo Vergante. Experimentation started in lower secondary school classes and, in a short period, became a good practice for two primary school complexes.
The Cube is the end product of a journey that begins wih a topic and drives research. What gives this work value is the shared planning, the participation of students, and the collaboration between teachers and students and between students and teachers. It's a 360-degree team effort! Everyone contributes to the success of the finished product, through assignments, skills, creativity, and participation.
What was the added value of this initiative for your class? Have suggestions for additional activities or new needs emerged?
This good practice has favored conviviality and socialisation. Moreover, the cube belongs to the playful tradition of the present and the past... it creates an anticipation of "play" and curiosity. During the development of the cube, everyone collaborated on the interdisciplinary cultural contents and interacted with them in real-life scenarios.
The systematic use of digital tools combined with traditional teaching promotes the conscious development of personal identity.
The enthusiasm of students and colleagues immediately favoured the activity and its replicability over the following years, leading the cube to be a “local protagonist” and receiving collaboration and hospitality from libraries and municipalities.
I would like to underline that this new practice, this new idea has not remained a phenomenon, an extemporaneous experience, but has become a systematic, coherent, shared, and lasting application.
