Teaching has been one of the longest and most formative parts of my professional experience.
Over three academic years, I taught Logistics and Navigation Sciences at ITIS Leonardo da Vinci in Parma. Alongside this main role, I taught Project Management and Integrated Logistics at ITS Logistica Sostenibile, digital skills at CIOFS, and entrepreneurship and financial education within PNRR-funded school programmes.
Across these settings, I worked with teenagers, young adults and adult learners with very different goals, backgrounds and starting points.
Three years in technical education
ITIS Leonardo da Vinci — Logistics and Navigation Sciences
ITIS Leonardo da Vinci — Logistics and Navigation Sciences
At ITIS Leonardo da Vinci in Parma, I taught a core subject in the logistics curriculum for three academic years, typically around 20 classroom hours per week. I worked with around 140 students and followed two cohorts continuously from their third year through graduation.
Teaching allowed me to put into practice Goleman’s six leadership styles, explored in my master’s thesis. I adapted my approach to individual students and group dynamics, relying especially on coaching and democratic leadership to build trust, motivation and autonomy. A commanding approach was only very rarely necessary.
I also helped supervise three study trips abroad — to Barcelona, Lisbon and Valencia — involving groups of around 50 students. These experiences required coordination, situational awareness, duty of care and close collaboration with colleagues.
Teaching across different contexts
ITS Logistica Sostenibile
At ITS Logistica Sostenibile in Parma, I taught Project Management and Integrated Logistics to students preparing for specialist roles in the sector.
The courses connected frameworks and methods with operational decisions, practical examples and exercises. Designing them required turning broad subjects into clear sequences of concepts, activities and reusable materials.
CIOFS
At CIOFS, I delivered practical digital-skills training in Microsoft Office and Excel to unemployed adults, young people who had left formal education, and unaccompanied migrant minors.
Teaching people with very different linguistic, cultural and educational starting points required me to adapt pace and examples, simplify without becoming superficial, and focus on skills that could be understood and applied immediately.
Within PNRR-funded school programmes, I designed and delivered several editions of courses on entrepreneurship and financial education.
Students moved from identifying problems and validating ideas to developing simple business plans, comparing financial choices and explaining the assumptions behind their decisions. Short theoretical sections were paired with collaborative exercises and practical models.
What teaching taught me
Teaching taught me that formal authority alone does not create participation. People engage when objectives are clear, the work feels relevant, expectations are consistent and feedback is credible.
That lesson carries directly into project and product work. It helps me structure ambiguous problems, communicate decisions clearly, adapt to different perspectives and create the conditions in which people can contribute effectively.