Our podcast journey
Second Summer School: Interview with teacher
Our podcast journey through Europe continues in Italy, where Francesco Manfrè teacher at Sfp Canossiana in Verona, share his personal European experience.
This episode follows the Summer School in Athens, part of the European Skills & VET Week 2026, an initiative of the European Commission organised by Cedefop.
After the Summer School in Athens, the EUCLASS Alliance podcast brings you a voice from the everyday reality of vocational education. Francesco Manfrè, psychologist and classroom tutor at the Canossian Vocational Training School in Verona (ENAC Veneto), talks about his journey and what it means today to pass a European awareness on to young people.
Francesco has worked at SFP Canossiana for about six months. He explains that a classroom tutor is different from a support teacher: instead of following one student, the tutor supports the class as a whole.
Three years ago, Francesco spent a year as a European volunteer in Silla, in the Valencian Community, working at an occupational centre for people with intellectual disabilities. The experience matched his psychology degree and fulfilled a long-held wish to live abroad. He set off with no Spanish and only school-level English. At the centre people spoke Spanish and Valencian, while at home he shared a flat with young people from Turkey, Slovenia and Hungary: Spanish in the morning, English in the afternoon. Besides learning about the Spanish care model, he built a network of cultural contacts and friendships across Europe.
Listen now to the full episode to discover more!
As a volunteer, Francesco says, he felt like a student. Taking part in the Summer School in Athens marks a symbolic step towards the role of teacher, with the responsibility of passing European values and a genuine sense of European citizenship on to his students.
A concrete project will also come out of the Summer School: a student exchange between SFP Canossiana and our partner school Kuressaare Ametikool in Estonia, planned for April/May.
His closing message is an invitation to teachers and students alike: set off, and don’t let too many doubts stop you. Francesco compares European projects to the Camino de Santiago: a shared journey towards a common goal, where the greatest value lies in the people and relationships you encounter along the way.