10 Questions With... Joe Masterson

Joe Masterson is Deputy Head at the Junior School La Storta, part of St George's British International School, Rome, and has kindly agreed to take part in our '10 Questions' series. 

1.     Which living person do you most admire?

My mother. My wife. One put up with a lot and the other, puts up with a lot.

I have worked with some terrific colleagues over the past number of years. I have learned so much from them and although they might not realise it, I have terrific admiration for them.

More globally, Kofi Annan always struck me as having the most worthwhile job in the world and I was, like so many, sad to see him pass away recently. Wenger, Ferguson, Merkel, Wiliams, Hattie, Hawking, Dawkins, Farah, Bolt, Sean Kelly, McIlroy - an eclectic bunch they are, have all gained my admiration over the years.

3.     What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My four children.

4.     Where would you most like to live?

I am not sure. I like so many of the places I have visited. As long as I am with my family, I don’t mind too much where we are.

5.     What is your favourite book?

I love this question and I change my answer every time it’s asked. At the moment my favourite book is Yuval Noah Harrari’s ‘21 lessons for the 21st Century’. If you asked me that question a year ago I would have said Harrari’s ‘Sapiens’ or ‘Homo Deus’. Before that, Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’, Ken Follett’s ‘Century Trilogy’ and then Robert Winston’s ‘Human Instinct’ or Bill Bryson’s ‘Short History of Nearly Everything’.

The stories in Richard Moore’s ‘Etape’ are fantastic. My first, and longest serving ‘favourite book’ was ‘I am David’ (apologies I can’t remember the author).

I love the rhyming of Julia’s Donaldson’s ‘Snail on the Whale’ and, ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Daywalt and Jeffers is hilarious! More accurately, it’s hilarious when you read it to young children trying to put on a different Irish accent for each of the crayon characters.

6.     What is your favourite £5 (or equivalent amount in your currency) treat?

Maltesers. If there is enough change, then more maltesers perhaps? I once ate 27 maltesers as part of a school maths day challenge- the children had to estimate how many I could consume in a minute. I recounted this event in a letter of application, as a light example of humour/creativity. My feedback highlighted that that story was an example how I didn’t meet the serious criteria of the job. Ouch.

7.     When you were a child what did you want to be when you grew up? 

A PE teacher. I loved sport and I loved teaching. I took my brother to our local pitch and putt club (mini golf) when he was about 10. I explained to him in good detail how to stand, hold the club, strike the ball. Then I proceeded to model the shot - and scored a hole in one. This made me think I should really look into teaching.

8.     What do you like to do in your spare time?

With three small children, it is hard to label any time as spare. However, I do actually take some time each evening to rest and distract myself with forty or fifty minutes of some TV drama or other before bed.

All other time is work or sport. I do a lot of reading outside of and around school on teaching, learning and leadership as I love my profession and enjoy trying to know and understand more and more and more - realising of course that there is more and more that I don’t yet understand very well at all.

For sport, I run, cycle, climb and sometimes swim. I have completed Ironmans and marathons and this takes time and effort. I love the struggle of it all, the physical and mental battles, the challenge, the wildlife I stumble upon/into, the land, the weather, competing, the people I meet and the reward of getting there in the end.

 9.     What is on your bucket list?

My bucket has a hole in it. There is just too many things I want to learn and too many places I want to see. Therefore, I try not to confine myself to a list but rather take the opportunities I can, as they arise.

10.  What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

That I do actually eat some vegetables.