What If:
What if professional learning was simply a structured permission to wonder?

.....
Leaving with questions packed, and room for more along the way....

What If:
What if we treated the ‘start-up phase’ of system change (or any considered change really...) as a protected thinking space...time to listen, test, refine and prepare before anyone talks about roll-out?

Snapshot:
Dr Kim Wallace’s reflections on initiative fatigue really resonated. Sometimes the hardest move is not jumping too soon.

What If:
What if we treated agency as a skill that’s explicitly taught, modelled and practiced, not something we simply expect students to pick up as they go?

Snapshot:
At AIM it was clear that the structures, routines and expectations had been deliberately built to help students learn how to own their learning.

What if:
We designed spaces where leadership naturally moves, where learners and teachers step in and out of leading, depending on the moment, the task, and the expertise in the room?

Snapshot:
At UC Links, undergrads and K-12 students co-create after-school learning built around community needs. The roles shift, expertise is shared and agency is something they build together.

What if:
Our assessment systems (for students and leaders) were designed to reflect ownership, reflection and real learning, not just outputs?

Snapshot: Reflections from today's 21CLSA Coaching Clinic with leaders from across California, exploring the tension between measurement and meaning.

What if
What if ownership wasn’t the outcome, but the starting point?

Snapshot:
Leadership Public Schools, East Oakland. Students presenting real-world projects with clarity, confidence, and a strong sense of where they’re headed next.

What if:
What if we designed learning that deliberately grows both capability and agency, so every student feels they can influence their own learning journey?

Snapshot:
A rich conversation with Frank Worrell on talent development, and a reminder that thriving sits where ability, wellbeing and agency intersect, for all learners, not just a few.

What if:
What if we viewed leadership as creating the conditions for both staff and students to keep growing?

Snapshot:
Such a joy to watch Heather Best leading quietly but strongly. Juggling complexity, trusting her team, and always keeping kids at the centre of the work.

What-if:
What if we saw equity work as a design question, not a response? What if every layer of the system, from classrooms to leadership, was intentionally built for unconditional inclusion?

Snapshot:
A thought-provoking conversation with Lihi Rosenthal on unconditional education. A reminder that true inclusion starts with how we design, not just how we intervene.

What-if:
What if trust, shared responsibility, and strong team culture weren’t left to chance, but were deliberately built into every structure and system?

Snapshot:
A visit to James Baldwin Academy where deep relationships, clear purpose, and collective care sit at the centre of the work. A reminder that belonging isn’t a byproduct of good culture; it’s the result of thoughtful design.

What if
What if we treated student agency the way Jacinda treated public leadership - with openness, humanity, and deep responsibility?
What if listening and humility were the traits we nurtured most in both students and leaders?

Snapshot
I was in San Francisco for Jacinda Ardern’s book launch. Serendipitously timed alongside the start of my Hardie Fellowship travels. It wasn’t an official part of the program, but it set the tone beautifully. It was witnessing a masterclass in leadership that is humble, honest, and deeply human.

What If
What if we treated every teaching decision as a chance to tell the story of what and who we value? What if our timetables, our classroom spaces, our resourcing, and our planning conversations made our equity beliefs visible?

Snapshot
Today’s PLI session with Luz Cázares reminded me that leadership isn’t just about strategy, it’s about purpose. She challenged us to think of budgets as stories: not about dollars, but about values. The same goes for the classroom. Our daily choices tell a story. Are they telling the one we want?

What if:
…we carved out more space for sustained, independent writing, not to produce something, but to explore something?
…we trusted students to choose how and what they write, and allowed their curiosity to lead? (Practice like this feels like a distant memory atm..)

Snapshot
This morning I visited a summer writing camp for kids in Grades 3–8, run by the Bay Area Writing Project. There were no prompts, no rigid structures, just time, trust, and choice. Kids wrote in notebooks, talked to each other, shared drafts, and revised their work because they wanted to. It was such a simple, powerful reminder: when we create space for students to take themselves seriously as writers, they usually do.

What if:
Our meetings were designed to invite thinking, not just report on it?

Snapshot:
It was a privilege to be with the new Principal Leadership Institute cohort today. They jumped straight into the deep end. With movement, metaphor, and mirroring, we explored what it really means to lead. Spoiler: it’s mostly about listening well and staying in the unknown a bit longer than feels comfortable.

What if:
We designed every part of school, from how we open the year to how we respond in the tough moments, with that order front and centre?

Snapshot:
At today’s Leading for Justice Summit in Berkeley, Dr. Sean Darling-Hammond shared this provocation:

“When educators define their role as deliverers of content, not builders of character or relationships, we lose the opportunity to teach the most human parts of learning.”

What if:
What if we protected the kind of writing that builds voice, identity and connection, not just outcomes?

Snapshot:
This morning’s session with the Bay Area Writing Project was a timely reminder. It’s easy for student agency to get squeezed when pressure builds.

What if:
What if we saw slowness, uncertainty, and deep thinking as strengths, not distractions from the ‘real work’, but the work itself?

Snapshot:
Across every setting I visited in the Bay Area one thing was clear: the most powerful environments are built on belonging, agency, and purpose. Not as add-ons, but as design principles. Systems alone can’t create change, but they can create the conditions for people to do the work that matters.

I'm so grateful for the thoughtful program that Lihi and Ozge created for me during my time with Berkeley.

What if:
We got better at naming the invisible patterns we’re part of, the assumptions we carry, the habits we’ve normalised, the stories we keep retelling?

Snapshot:
Day 1 of the Leading For Culture Change course at HGSE gave me the space to reflect. Working with some colleagues from Hobart helped surface what was sitting just below the surface, both in their context and mine. The more we named, the clearer things became. Culture isn’t just what’s said. It’s what gets repeated. What goes unquestioned. What quietly becomes ‘just how things are done.’

What if:
We made it standard practice to ask: who’s missing from this conversation… and what might they say if they were here?

Snapshot:
As we explored data together and with leaders from other schools, I kept wondering whose voices were showing up...and whose weren’t. It made me think about how often school narratives get shaped by those who have the access, time, or confidence to speak... And maybe we need to pause long enough to listen differently.

What if:
We treated every interaction, every celebration, and even every silence as part of the culture story we’re telling? What if we got more intentional about the messages we send, even the invisible ones?

Snapshot:
Today we shifted from understanding culture to actively shaping it. We unpacked six strategies for culture change, but what stuck with me most was this: who we are as leaders is the culture. Our defaults, energy, and even our blind spots show up in what we create. Broadcasting culture isn’t just about spin – it’s about making our values visible, over and over, in ways that people can feel.

What if:
The biggest barrier to change isn’t time, skill, or resources… but fear? Fear of judgment, loss of control, or being seen as not enough?

Snapshot:
Creating a strong culture means we need to let go of protective behaviours and examine the ways we all keep a foot on the brake, even when we say we’re ready for change.

What if:
We stopped trying to solve surface-level problems and instead created space to name the deeper fears, assumptions, and beliefs that sit underneath? What if our change efforts started there?

Snapshot:
On Day 3 at Harvard, we worked on a real school challenge, not from my own context, but the themes were familiar. It reinforced that culture change isn’t about adding more, it’s about aligning what we say with what we actually do. Sometimes, the hardest work is naming what’s quietly holding us back.

What if:
What if we trusted teachers to design learning that values complexity, not just coverage?

Snapshot:
I spent the morning in Williamstown with Dr. Susan Engel, an experience that helped me reconnect with some core questions I’ve been sitting with for years. We explored the role of curiosity, the limits of standardised assessment, and the quiet power of professional trust. It reminded me that clarity doesn’t come from compliance, it comes from meaningful conversation.

What if:
We assessed learning by looking at how students' reason, reflect, and make connections...not just how they perform on a test?

Snapshot:
Much of my conversation with Dr. Susan Engel centred on how we might better capture what matters in learning. We explored alternatives to traditional grading, and it left me wondering: if we say we value deep thinking, curiosity, and agency, are we assessing in ways that reflect those values?

What if:
We treated student agency as the curriculum, not an extra? What if we made space for students to choose what they want to get good at and trusted them to pursue it with depth?

Snapshot:
As I sat with Susan today, we talked about what happens when students are given ownership over their learning, not just during a “project” but as part of their everyday experience. She reminded me that helping students develop their own questions, test their own ideas, and reflect meaningfully is the work - not a break from it.

What if:
Professional learning created more space for thinking than for tasks...more room for questioning than for quick fixes?

Snapshot:
In the rush of school life, it’s easy to fall into fast talk and surface fixes. Today reminded me of the power of slow, spacious conversations...ones that honour uncertainty, invite curiosity, and leave room for things to unfold. Sometimes, the most transformative learning comes not from answers, but from the questions we sit with together.

What if:
Today we explored teacher education - what if every teacher had regular opportunities to record, review, and reflect on their practice with a trusted peer, not for compliance, but for genuine growth?

Susan made a simple but striking comparison: no one becomes a brain surgeon without being watched, supported, and coached, so why should teaching be any different? How could we implement more noticing practices amongst colleagues? No judgment. Just space to reflect, notice, and grow.

What if:
What if we spent more time noticing which shifts in thinking come from real conceptual change, not just surface-level skill?

Snapshot:
A discussion about learning vs. development, readiness vs. instruction got me thinking today. How do we know when a child has truly changed the way they think? It made me wonder how often we celebrate ‘learning’ that’s actually just compliance, or memorization, or repetition, when what we really want is transformation....

What if:
What if some of the best professional learning doesn’t come from a program or a plan, but from a shared story, a sideways question, or an unexpected laugh?

Snapshot:
This photo is a reminder of what can happen when you just reach out. A few days ago, we were names on a screen. Now we’ve shared hours of conversation...about teaching, thinking, curiosity, engagement, systems, language, dogs, and everything in between. It wasn’t planned or polished, but it was full of energy, challenge, and genuine learning. I'm so grateful for this opportunity.

What If:
We treated thinking as the curriculum, not just something we hope happens along the way? What if our professional learning mirrored the kind of thinking culture we want for students: slow, curious, responsive, and human?

Snapshot:
Standing in a lecture hall full of 240 educators from around the world, trading mindset cards like dance partners, and listening to Ron Ritchhart reframe transformation as a journey of mindset, skillset, and toolset. Feeling equal parts inspired and grounded.

What If
We stopped asking “How do I cover this content?” and started asking “What thinking do I want students to do with this content?” What if we made that shift explicit in our planning, our language, and our assessment?

Snapshot
A great session with Ron Ritchart, surfacing the kinds of qualities we want students to grow into - not just skills, but dispositions. Curiosity. Courage. Connection.

What If:
Curiosity wasn’t treated as a ‘nice to have’ - but as the lever for equity? What if, instead of narrowing the curriculum to fill gaps, we expanded it to spark questions?

Snapshot
Ron shared research showing that cultivating curiosity in students does more to close the achievement gap than any remedial program. It’s not about lowering the bar ... it’s about raising the engagement. When students care, they think. When they think, they grow.

What If
We designed all learning (for students and educators) with the understanding that thinking and learning are as much a collective enterprise as they are an individual endeavour? What if we saw collaboration not as an add-on, but as the very soil where deep thinking takes root?

Snapshot
Our study group met for the first time today. We are a mix of educators from wildly different contexts, all united by a shared belief: that thinking is better when it’s made visible, when it’s shared, when it’s supported by culture. We explored ideas through art, conversation, interpretation, and collaboration. Already, it feels like a microcosm of the culture we want to build for our students; where learning is joyful, collective, and deeply human.

What if:
We saw paradoxes as creative tension points in our planning? What if we designed learning experiences that didn’t force a choice between structure or freedom, but embraced both?

Snapshot:
Mara Krechevsky named the paradoxes of playful learning: Play is timeless / school is timetabled. Play invites agency / school often directs. Instead of trying to tidy them up, she challenged us to lean in. As Niels Bohr said, “Now that we’ve met with a paradox, we have some hope of making progress.”

What if:
Play was repositioned as a core learning strategy, not a break from the serious stuff?

Snapshot:
“Play is a strategy for learning, not just a set of activities teachers need to make time for.” This quote from Susan Mackay, shared by Mara, reminded me that play is foundational.

What if:
We approached professional learning like beachcombing - searching slowly, selectively, and curiously for pieces of driftwood that fit our context?

Snapshot:
Tina told a story of an experienced teacher who walked out of an underwhelming PD session smiling. When asked why, she said, “I found the piece of driftwood I was looking for.” You don’t take the whole beach home. You take what speaks to your work.

What if:
...instead of expectations for behaviour, we built norms for thinking - co-created with students and focused on how we learn together?

Snapshot:
“You can call a classmate when you’re stuck. Your reasoning matters more than your answer. You can change your mind.” These were classroom norms—not behaviour charts, but agreements that empowered even the most disengaged learners to rejoin the learning.

What if:
We treated classrooms less like containers for learning and more like collaborators in it? What if students helped shape their spaces to reflect the values of curiosity, agency, belonging and satisfaction?

Snapshot:
Daniel Wilson reminded us that places aren’t just physical, they’re emotional, relational, and cultural. A space becomes a place when it carries meaning. His four roles of place - as setting, object, bridge, and partner - gave us new language (and permission) to look at classrooms differently.

What are adults missing about how students use AI? We often jump to panic or policy, but what if the most important thing is to listen to what students are actually doing, thinking, and feeling?

What If:

We treated AI use like learning to write, not like cheating? What if every student had the chance to reflect on where their line is, not just where ours is?

Snapshot:

A student said, “The robot makes me feel important. It listens.”
Behind all the headlines is a real, emotional landscape. These aren’t just tools...they’re companions, confidantes, and sometimes, shortcuts. That complexity matters.

What if
…our staff meetings were small, regular rehearsals for the kind of learning culture we actually want to see in our classrooms?

Snapshot
Tina Blythe offered a deceptively simple frame:
Start. Heart. Part. Chart.
Start human. Go deep. Use structure. Capture the learning.
Such a good reminder that professional learning isn’t something we add on, it’s something we create, moment by moment, in how we show up together.

What if

We stopped separating thinking from feeling in our professional learning?
What if we treated our own conversations as emotional and intellectual spaces, and designed for both?

Snapshot
Tina reminded us that “the same neural networks light up when we think and when we feel.”
It made me reflect on how often we push through meetings without pausing to check in, notice tension, or make space for what’s really going on.
Protocols don’t have to be rigid. When used well, they create space for the kind of respectful, relational conversations that deepen trust and thinking, at the same time.

What If
The measure of a learning community wasn’t how polished our ideas are, but how willing we are to share what feels unresolved?

Snapshot
During our Study Group sharing session we discovered the power of naming our tensions out loud: creativity vs. conformity, rigour vs. joy, trust vs. accountability, and realising that sitting in these tensions is what can lead us to progress.

What If
Every classroom, even in the most regulated systems, could hold space where teachers and students both felt permission to invent, to question, and to shape what learning becomes?

Snapshot
During our study group sharing session, each artefact felt like more than a metaphor...It was evidence of how different our paths are, and how deeply we share the same commitment: to create spaces where learning feels alive and everyone has a part in designing the journey.

What If
We treated every change as an ecology, asking: Is the framework flexible enough? Do we have leaders to champion and nurture it? Have we built a community that’s open instead of polarised? Have we thought about what happens when the champions leave?

Snapshot
Hearing David Perkins describe the “five-year effect,” where promising work fades because nobody planned for what comes next. And realising maybe it’s not about starting strong, but about staying curious and committed long after the launch.

What If
A culture of thinking isn’t something we build from scratch, but something we uncover by paying better attention? What if our real work is to name the difference between compliance and genuine engagement...and to be brave enough to design for the latter, even when the system pulls us toward control?

Snapshot
Sitting in the final sessions of Project Zero Classroom, hearing stories from schools all over the world, and realising that some of the most powerful shifts didn’t start with new frameworks or policies. They started when people gave themselves (and each other) permission to try, to notice, to question, and to hold onto joy as a non-negotiable.

How do we keep getting better at teaching? Not in big, flashy ways, but in the quiet, deliberate moments that make the real difference?
What does excellence look like in a profession where the work is complex, emotional, and often invisible?

What if:

We treated teaching as a craft, not something to perfect, but something to keep refining?
What if we embraced uncertainty, named our missteps, and saw reflection as a form of progress?
What if getting better wasn’t about doing more, just doing what matters, more intentionally?

Snapshot:

Better reminded me that improvement doesn’t have to be dramatic.
It’s the teacher who tweaks a lesson.
The team that stays curious in hard moments.
The leader who listens before solving.
Small moves. Repeated often.
Because better is always possible, when we’re willing to keep trying.

What if
Professional growth isn’t always about adding more, but seeing what’s already there, more clearly?
What if leading well means learning in public, being willing to share the mess, the stretch, the rethinking?
What if we protected more space for this kind of slow, deep reflection, for ourselves and for others?

Snapshot
Over the past seven weeks, I’ve travelled far, but the most powerful learning happened in the pause.
I’ve learnt that I’m most alive in unfinished conversations. That I think best in metaphors. I’ve learnt that real leadership isn’t always about having the answers; it’s about holding space for better questions.
I like to think I'm heading home more anchored in what matters: curiosity, agency, complexity, joy.
That I'm going back clearer about the kind of leader and learner I want to be.
And most of all, I'm reminded:

I am still a learner. Always.

If the real purpose of school is about kids finding purpose, thinking deeply, contributing, and enjoying learning, how often do our everyday routines and decisions actually line up with that — and how often do they pull us away?

What if
What if we stopped measuring success by readiness for the “next stage” and instead asked: are students building the dispositions and capabilities that make for a good life?

Snapshot
Engel reminds us it’s not complicated. The purpose of school can be simple: let kids dive into meaningful work, get good at things, contribute to their community, understand others, and read for both joy and knowledge.

When did teaching start to feel less like teaching? The scripts, the data cycles, the evidence-of-evidence. If we're honest...how much of what we're asked to do each week would we describe as teaching at all?

What if

What if the problem isn't that teachers have lost their spark... but that we keep asking them to do work that has none? What if we stopped trying to make dull work bearable, and started asking why the work is dull? What if joy, curiosity and craft weren't treated as luxuries to squeeze in around the 'real work'... but as the real work we've been squeezing out?

Snapshot

Andy Hargreaves at EduTech hit the nail on the head here... He said: "The reason more and more teachers are leaving teaching is because more and more of the teaching they're being asked to do, sucks."

It's the slow flattening... watching brilliant, curious teachers being handed work that asks nothing of their brilliance or their curiosity... Nobody leaves work that makes them feel alive.