Francesca Sabatini: “The community doesn’t take up time; it multiplies it”
The community of the Scuola del Noi teachers is a space for collective intelligence where teachers from all over Italy share practices, doubts and experiments, transforming educational innovation from an individual experience into a shared process.
From this experience, the “Voices and Faces” column was born within the Facebook community, designed to give a voice to teachers and highlight the work that takes shape in classrooms every day. A space that begins with peer discussion and opens up to a wider audience through the Foundation’s channels, to share real-life practices, reflections and educational choices that help us understand how the role of the teacher is changing in the digital age.
Kicking off the series is Francesca Sabatini, a literature teacher at the “Vito Volterra” Scientific High School in Ciampino, in the province of Rome, and coordinator of the Second Cycle of the Scuola del Noi.
What professional or personal need prompted you to join the community of teachers at the Scuola del Noi?
The need not to feel like an island. Often, those involved in innovation in schools run the risk of becoming isolated in their own experimentation. I was looking for a space of ‘collective intelligence’ where digital technology was not just a list of tools, but a forum for pedagogical and cultural exchange.
How has participating in the community changed the way you view your role as a teacher?
It has confirmed that today’s teacher must be a ‘curator of contexts’. I am no longer just the one who delivers content, but the one who designs learning environments where technology is transparent and critical thinking takes centre stage. The community has given me the courage to be more of a ‘director’ and less of an ‘actress’.
What, in your view, is the most important objective of the Scuola del Noi?
Co-creation. Moving from being passive users of technology to conscious designers. The aim is not to learn how to use AI, but to understand how AI can help us rethink school, making it more open, inclusive and in touch with reality.
How does the project help you prepare your students for the present, not just the future?
My students at Volterra are already immersed in the world of algorithms, but they often experience it passively. The project gives me the tools – such as the DigComp compasses – to help them ‘read’ this present. I’m not preparing them for a job they’ll do in ten years’ time; I’m helping them understand what’s happening today in their phones and in their minds.
Have you changed your teaching practice thanks to the community?
Yes, I’ve stopped being afraid of ‘wasting time’ on co-design. I used to deliver pre-packaged lessons; now, thanks to the protocols we’ve developed, I involve the students in creating the workshops. We use AI for initial brainstorming or to challenge our own ideas. The lesson has become a work in progress, and it’s much more fun that way.
How important is it to be able to share doubts and experiments with other teachers?
It’s the difference between standing still and growing. In this community, admitting you don’t know how a prompt works or that an experiment in class has failed isn’t a weakness, but the start of a real discussion. It takes away that anxiety of always having to be ‘right up to date’.
Do you feel better prepared to tackle complex topics like AI, digital technology and citizenship?
Yes, because I have a safety net. If I get lost in the ethics of GenAI or privacy issues, I know there’s a group of colleagues studying the same things. Complexity stops being scary when it becomes a collective challenge.
What kind of school do you want to help build?
A ‘humanistic’ school in the most modern sense of the term. Where literature and technology engage with one another without prejudice.
I dream of a school that doesn’t chase the latest app, but teaches young people to be empathetic and critical, using every possible tool to ask intelligent questions.
What responsibility do you feel today as a teacher in the age of AI?
I feel a responsibility to “understand so as not to fear”, just as Marie Curie said. My task is not to ban AI, but to guide young people in mastering it. It is an immense educational challenge: we must teach them to keep the helm of humanity steady in a sea of automation.
If the Scuola del Noi did not exist, what would be missing from your journey?
The “permanent laboratory” would be missing. Without the Scuola del Noi, I would be a teacher who reads many books on innovation, but who would struggle far more to turn those pages into real, replicable and shared activities.
What would you say to a teacher who thinks they ‘don’t have time’ to join a community?
I would tell them that the community doesn’t take up time; it multiplies it. Sharing solutions, tried-and-tested prompts and ready-made lesson plans allows us to avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ every time. Joining the Scuola del Noi is the best investment for saving time and improving the quality of your professional life.
