At Thinkering Collective, we don’t do surface-level support. We build systems of deep human connection—because we believe innovation flourishes when educators are seen, supported, and surrounded by people who believe in them. That’s why we are thrilled to welcome Noa Daniel as our Thinkering Mentorship Imaginator—a title that couldn’t be more fitting for someone who’s redefining what it means to guide and grow alongside others.
Noa isn’t new to innovation. A 30-year educator, creator of Building Outside the Blocks, and founder of The Mentoree, she’s spent her career challenging the transactional model of learning. For Noa, mentorship is relational. It’s not about filling a vessel—it’s about building bridges. It’s not about delivering wisdom from on high—it’s about asking better questions and creating the conditions where both mentor and mentee learn with and from each other.
“Mentorship is a strategy for teachers—and anybody in life—to continually grow and stay open to learning. It’s high-yield professional development.”
In our conversation with Noa, she shared the story of fighting to be mentored herself—despite being an experienced educator—when entering a new International Baccalaureate (IB) school. That experience opened her eyes to the systemic gaps in how mentorship is used (or misused) in schools. It also launched her into an collaborative inquiry into the impact of one-to-one, self-directed mentorship, which became The Mentoree. She emerged with a powerful insight:
“We haven’t leveraged mentorship properly in education.”
With Thinkering, she’s now bringing that insight to life.
Rethinking Mentorship: A Lens, Not a Ladder
One of Noa’s most memorable lines from our discussion was this:
“Be a sounding board, not a billboard.”
Too often, mentors talk at their mentees, rather than walk with them. At Thinkering, Noa is designing a model where every fellow is supported, and no mentor is left to mentor in isolation. It’s a mentorship ecosystem—reciprocal, evolving, human.
And it’s not just about helping teachers build their projects. It’s about building them up in the process.
“Teachers want to be heard. Having someone just to hear them—that alone can change everything.”
Mentorship That Mirrors Learning
Noa believes that mentorship should mirror the kind of student-centered, agency-rich learning we want for kids. That means giving teachers the ability to articulate how they learn best, choose when they’re ready, and identify the kinds of support they need to bring their ideas to life.
It also means mentors are learners too.
“All people should be both mentors and mentees. There are times when you’re not ‘mentorable,’ and that’s okay. But when you are ready, mentorship gives you someone to unpack with. To reflect. To evolve.”
Why It Matters at Thinkering
In the Thinkering Fellowship, educators design and launch dream projects that change learning for their students—and often, their schools and communities. Mentorship isn’t a sidebar; it’s a core pillar of how we do what we do. But with Noa helping us imagine what’s possible, mentorship at Thinkering becomes something more:
A support system rooted in trust and transformation
A relationship model that extends beyond the 10-week fellowship
A reminder that we don’t grow alone—we grow because someone else believed in us
“If you want to be a mentor in Thinkering, you just want to be a champion for educators.”
With Noa as our Mentorship Imaginator, we’re not just assigning mentors. We’re building a culture that breathes mentorship at every level.
Ready to Build With Us?
If you’re an educator with a bold idea and nowhere to take it, the Thinkering Fellowship is where it begins. You bring the spark. We bring the people, the platform, and the purpose to help you ignite it.
👉 Apply or nominate someone to the Fellowship now
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and her incredible storytelling and projects on Substack!Let’s build this next era of learning—together.
