#178

As a reflective practitioner and lifelong learner who regularly engages in formal and informal PD, a highlight of my week - despite being at 05.00 (during Daylight Savings Time) or 06.00 (during Standard Time) - is my Better Leaders Better Schools Mastermind class which happens each and every Thursday morning (Wednesday afternoon Eastern Time).

As much as I enjoy learning from one off PD sessions, offered by Teaching Tolerance, ACSD, etc, I very much appreciate that the BLBS Mastermind is a safe space and that each member of our cohort of 15 educators/leaders has the opportunity to learn and grow together personally and professionally.

Each and every week a different member of our cohort facilitates the meeting which, inter alia, includes the discussion of the shared text and the “hot seat”.

• The shared texts are not education specific texts, but rather texts where the central theme throws light on personal and professional practice and is relevant for educational leaders. Since joining in August 2020, we have read Thank You for the Feedback [Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen], Infinite Games [Simon Sinek], Thinking in Bets [Annie Duke], Radical Candour [Kim Scott], How to be an Antiracist [Ibrahim X. Kendi] and our current text is The Person You Mean to Be [Dolly Chugh]. From each of these texts, I have - as I move away from my comfort zone - had different takeaways be it having my thoughts challenged, extended or crystalized.
  

• The “hot seat” gives two individuals (per the rotational schedule) the opportunity to share a professional concern and then leverage the experience and wisdom of the group for pertinent resources, thoughts to help see the presenting issue more clearly and food for thought/action steps to resolve/improve the area of concern. It is truly valuable (not just for the person presenting). As we encompass a wide range of educational establishments (private international, bilingual school, government school, private Christian school, urban schools, rural school on a Native American reservation etc.,.), collectively we have a wide range of experiences to draw upon and share for the good of the group.