Multiplying impact through EdTech

From teacher to Educational Consultant at Innovamat: Alumna Martina Bonomi tells us how to continue striving for educational equity by supporting hundreds of schools and teachers every day with EdTech, adopting an approach capable of transforming math learning.

The commitment to tackle educational inequalities takes many forms: some Teach For Italy Alumni choose to make their impact in the classroom as teachers, while others pursue different professional paths. The story of Martina Bonomi, a 2021 Teach For Italy Alumna, represents one of these professional choices: her work impacts the fight against educational inequalities through the potential of the EdTech world.

During her two years of Fellowship, lived in contexts such as the Ciofs in Milan and the Serafino Riva Institute in Sarnico, Martina experienced firsthand the complexity of educational poverty. From this experience, the desire was born in Martina to help make the school a true support network and to bring her skills into the world of educational innovation.

Today, as an Educational Consultant for Innovamat, Martina works daily alongside hundreds of teachers and school principals. Through training, coaching, and the implementation of inclusive digital tools, her scope of action to promote educational equity has multiplied. In this interview, Martina tells us how leadership can translate into listening to those working in the classroom, and how looking at the school from the "outside" is an essential challenge to build a more collaborative education.

Your journey as a Fellow saw you in very different contexts. After two years, you chose to continue committing to educational equity by leaving the classroom and entering the EdTech world. What triggered this transition, and how has it shaped your current vision?

My main need stemmed from the desire to have a broader impact. When you are a teacher, you have an incredible impact on your students, which in my case, working in high schools, meant about 70-80 students each year.

In the work I do now, reaching dozens of schools and interfacing with school principals and teachers, I have the opportunity to scale my scope of action and have an indirect impact on hundreds of students. I have always felt, in some way, "privileged": as a student, I had a family and an educational context that supported me very well.

Discovering educational inequalities up close changes your perspective; it makes you understand the real reasons why certain people find themselves in specific contexts. Teach For Italy, in this regard, was a powerful training ground. At the same time, I realized that you cannot change the world alone. An isolated teacher, however transformative, has a limited impact, and sometimes this is discouraging.

This is why I developed the idea that the school should be much more of a network, capable of creating a constructive climate and supporting those who work every day in highly disadvantaged contexts with their problems.

Today you work on a curricular math project, supporting about 380 classes across Lombardy and Veneto. There is often a fear that digital innovation might widen the gaps between students. What are, in your opinion, the potentials of these tools to reduce inequalities?

In the debate on the use of digital tools at school, I believe the keyword is "balance." In our project, most activities remain hands-on and are based on classroom dialogue, but there is one hour a week when children use a self-adaptive app.

This is a very powerful tool. I see classes with children who are all profoundly different from one another, and the algorithm, based on each one's level and starting point, builds dedicated activities and exercises. This allows the teacher to differentiate the work, something that would be impossible to consistently replicate on paper throughout the year.

Furthermore, it is a tool that is used at school, not at home (with some exceptions), guaranteeing everyone the same opportunities. We also help schools equip themselves with digital tools through grants and PON (National Operational Programs), and we provide training to those teachers—perhaps close to retirement—who challenge themselves to make the most of these resources. In this sense, digital technology is not a curse, but a tool to be used well.

When you were a Fellow, you wrote a beautiful poem to describe what teaching meant to you. Today, no longer having your own class, how do you continue to exercise the leadership you developed in the field?

That text was a moment of synthesis of two very intense years, a way to explain the acquisition of transversal skills in the field. Today, in my days and in the meetings I have with teachers, this absolute attention to the individual continues.

My goal is to bring out their potential, stimulate a positive growth mindset, and support the desire to change teaching methods: I believe that a revolution can be made through teaching.

There is a huge amount of room for listening. Sometimes teachers open up a lot, and regardless of whatever training session was prepared, the human relationship and connection always remain at the center. If it's a bad day, you take a step back and accommodate the need of the moment.

To exercise leadership, you also need a lot of humility; when you enter a school context with dynamics that have been consolidated for years, you must know how to navigate it with the right sensitivity.

Closing your eyes, how do you imagine the Italian school system in 10 years? And what advice would you give to a young Fellow who wishes to explore paths outside of school to generate systemic impact?

To those thinking of leaving the classroom, I say that having worked in class is fundamental; it gives you a very precise perspective on the real dynamics that those who have never taught often struggle to understand.

At the same time, looking at the school from the outside, from a reality that collaborates with it, is a precious challenge that helps you piece together the big picture and better understand decisions by principals that, internally, you might have simply judged negatively.

In 10 years, I imagine a school that opens up more and more to innovation. If EdTech realities bring a breath of fresh air to support teachers' work, and not to replace or overload them, we only stand to benefit.

I would also like to see more middle management figures capable of supporting the school principal, fostering long-term collaborations that finally give trust and stability to the natural growth of our schools.