A Small Step Toward a Reading Culture

I love reading. It’s one of the few activities that is deeply individual yet collaborative when shared through a book club. Over the years, I’ve started book clubs with friends and colleagues, and the experience has always been worthwhile — as long as the book is good and the members are committed.

Earlier this year, while preparing for a professional development session I was to lead on AI in teaching, the idea resurfaced. I had bought a small selection of books to inform my PD — Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence, Salman Khan’s Brave New Words, and Max Bennett’s A Brief History of Intelligence.

I read Co-Intelligence first and found it incredibly insightful; Mollick’s ideas shaped much of my PD workshop. While planning the final slide of my presentation, I realized I didn’t want the conversation to end there. I thought: why not invite colleagues to explore these ideas together through a book club?

At the end of the PD, as a clear call to action, I invited everyone to join a book club—starting with Brave New Words by Salman Khan. I followed up with a WeChat message to the whole staff, and to my happy surprise, six teachers from different departments expressed interest. I even tried to recruit a few more, getting a couple more on board, to make a grand total of 8!

Many colleagues (lovingly) call me a “nerd” (I’m still not entirely sure why. I love reading, I love ideas, and I love intellectual stimulation. Reading helps me stay grounded and focused in a world where screens and digital media constantly pull at our attention and turn us numb. In a way, starting a book club felt like an antidote—a way to reclaim focus, depth, and disciplined thinking.

In essence, the book club was also about creating something we teachers often lack: a space to share ideas and learn from each other outside the grind of daily school life.

And so, we began.

Our plan was simple: meet once a week after school. But if you work in a school, you already know what happened next. Duties. After-school activities. Department meetings. Events.

Of the eight original members, four eventually stepped back because of other commitments, promising they would be more diligent for the next book (I remember who you are!). That left us with a core group of four. And even then, only once did all four of us make it to the same meeting. Some weeks, it was just two: me and one determined colleague.

Now, was it “successful”? Not in the traditional sense of high attendance. But still—a start is a start.

The meetings themselves were relaxed, thoughtful, and often filled with genuinely stimulating discussion. I loved hearing other perspectives, especially when teachers challenged my assumptions.

One colleague regularly played devil’s advocate, pushing back on my concerns about technology’s impact on social fabric. Another was adamant that AI could never replace teachers—a point I agree with, but with a caveat: AI won’t replace teachers, but teachers who use AI will replace teachers who don’t.

Those conversations sharpened my thinking more than the book itself.

As a group, we had mixed feelings about Brave New Words. To be honest, most of us didn’t enjoy it as much as we hoped. It felt, at times, like an advertisement for Khan Academy rather than a deep exploration of AI in education.

Still, there were parts I appreciated: the call for guardrails, the emphasis on protecting the “human element,” and Khan’s optimism about an AI-enabled future. His framing of “bravery”—the idea that we need a careful, cautious, educated courage when working with AI—is something that stayed with me.

Even though this first run wasn’t perfect, it was meaningful. Building something new at a school — whether a PD initiative, a book club or a reading culture — takes time. Momentum grows slowly. People join, leave, return, get busy, re-engage. That’s normal.

We’re now choosing our next book, and I’ve asked colleagues for suggestions. I want to take a more active role this time in checking in with teachers one-on-one, encouraging them, and maybe even having informal mini discussions for those who can’t attend every meeting.

My long-term hope is to build a culture where we read, think, and grow together.

Starting this book club was a small step in that direction. And small steps, taken consistently, can reshape us more than we realize.