Ms Alison Mitchell

  • Headteacher in Residence (School of Education)

Biography

Alison Mitchell is Headteacher in Residence at the University of Glasgow's School of Education. Alison teaches on leadership preparation and development programmes (Into Headship and In Headship) for aspiring and new headteachers (school principals) and is part of the School of Education's Future of Headship (FoH) research and writing team, with colleagues Professor Christine Forde, Dr Julie Harvie and Professor Margery McMahon.

She has 33 years' professional experience in secondary education in Scotland, including 11 years as headteacher of a large comprehensive secondary school in Glasgow City. She completed a degree of Master of Education (Educational Studies) at the University of Glasgow in 2019, receiving the William Boyd Prize for the most distinguished Masters student in the School of Education. Her professional context and experience motivates many research interests within the FoH research team, including ethical school leadership, education policy and social justice in education. She is currently studying her PhD at the University of Glasgow School of Education.

Alison works one day a week for Glasgow City Council Education Improvement Service (EdIS) supporting education leadership; mentoring, practitioner inquiry, leading professional learning and contributing to the Leadership Strategy Group. She is also the Glasgow City Council representative on the Leadership, Empowerment and Improvement workstream within the West Partnership.

 

Research interests

  • The Future of Headship
  • Education Policy
  • Social Justice Leadership
  • Ethical School Leadership

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021
Number of items: 34.

2024

Mitchell, A. , Black, S., Davren, C. and Harvie, J. (2024) The Key Role of Mentorship in Principals’ Professional Development Trajectories: Impact of a University and District Research/Practice Learning Partnership. ICSEI Congress 2024, Dublin, Ireland, 8-12 January 2024.

Mitchell, A. , Baker, M., Davren, C. and McMahon, M. (2024) Education Policy: In Whose Interests? A Research/Policy/Practice University and School District Professional Learning Partnership to Strengthen Leadership of and for Critically Conscious School Communities. ICSEI Congress 2024, Dublin, Ireland, 8-12 January 2024.

2023

Mitchell, A. (2023) Headteachers (School Principals) as System Leaders: Understandings, Provocations and Propositions. Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) Conference 2023, Edinburgh, Scotland, 22-24 November 2023.

Mitchell, A. (2023) Shifting Constructions of Headship/Principalship in Scottish Education: Implications for Professional Learning and Empowerment in School Communities. Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) Conference 2023, Edinburgh, Scotland, 22-24 November 2023.

Harvie, J. and Mitchell, A. (2023) The evolving role of the headteacher. Teaching Scotland, 98,

Forde, C. , Harvie, J. , Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. and Kerrigan, K. (2023) Career-long professional learning in Scotland. In: Jones, K., Ostinelli, G. and Crescentini, A. (eds.) Innovation in Teacher Professional Learning in Europe: Research, Policy and Practice. Series: Routledge research in teacher education. Routledge, pp. 90-102. ISBN 9781032334493; eISBN 9781003322610 (doi: 10.4324/9781003322610-8)

McMahon, M. and Mitchell, A. (2023) Development of a Politically Cognisant Teaching Profession to Navigate Global and Glocal Ambiguities and Transformations. Association of Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) Winter Conference, Braga, Portugal, 26-28 Oct 2023.

Torrance, D. et al. (2023) Conducting comparative analyses of social justice leadership: creating an international research team from diverse country, policy and education system contexts. Equity in Education and Society, (doi: 10.1177/27526461231194788) (Early Online Publication)

Mitchell, A. and Baker, M. (2023) Politically Astute Principalship for Critically Conscious School Communities: A University/District Partnership. 4th Annual Centre for Leadership and Diversity (CLD) International Conference, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Toronto, Canada, 13-14 October 2023.

Harvie, J. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , McMahon, M. and Mitchell, A. (2023) Leadership and Management: A Relevant Distinction for Leadership in Education? European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2023), Glasgow, UK, 22-25 Aug 2023.

Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , Forde, C. , Torrance, D. and McMahon, M. (2023) Career-long Professional Learning in Scotland: Questions for the Future. European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2023), Glasgow, UK, 22-25 Aug 2023.

Mitchell, A. , Torrance, D. , Harvie, J. , Forde, C. and McMahon, M. (2023) The changing role of the headteacher in Scottish education: implications for career-long teacher education. In: Mifsud, D. and Day, S. P. (eds.) Teacher Education as an Ongoing Professional Trajectory: Implications for Policy and Practice. Series: Teacher education, learning innovation and accountability. Springer: Cham, pp. 181-204. ISBN 9783031286193 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-28620-9_9)

Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. , Reid, A. and Baker, M. (2023) System-level Education Reform in Scotland: Implications for Teacher Education = Riforma dell'istruzione a livello di sistema in Scozia: Implicazioni per la formazione degli insegnanti. 20th Biennial International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) Conference 2023, Bari, Italy, 3-7 July 2023.

Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. , Reid, A., Baker, M., Drennan, O. and Arthur, J. (2023) Leading Critically Conscious School Communities: A Research/Practice Partnership to Strengthen Political Literacy in School Principals = Principali scuole criticamente consapevoli: Un partenariato di ricerca/pratica per rafforzare l'alfabetizzazione politica nei dirigenti scolastici. In: 20th Biennial International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) Conference 2023, Bari, Italy, 3-7 July 2023, (Accepted for Publication)

Harvie, J. , Mitchell, A. , Forde, C. , Torrance, D. and McMahon, M. (2023) School Leadership in Globally Challenging Times: Developing Understandings Through Life History Narratives. In: British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) Annual Conference 2023, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 14-16 July 2023, (Accepted for Publication)

Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. , Drennan, O., Arthur, J., Reid, A. and Baker, M. (2023) Enhanced Political Awareness: Authentic Engagement in a Research/Practice Partnership to Strengthen Leadership for Critically Conscious School Communities. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) Annual Conference 2023, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 14-16 July 2023.

Mitchell, A. and Harvie, J. (2023) Re-envisioning School Leadership – The Evolving Role of Headteachers in Scotland. General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) Conference 2023, Glasgow, UK, 18 May 2023.

Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. and McMahon, M. (2023) Reimagining School Leadership Post-Pandemic: Learning From the Experiences of Headteachers in Scotland = Reimaginando el liderazgo escolar después de la pandemia: Aprendiendo de las experiencias de Directores en Escocia. International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) Annual International Conference, Viña del Mar, Chile, 10-13 Jan 2023.

Mitchell, A. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , Harvie, J. and McMahon, M. (2023) Developing leadership for school education: constructions of system leadership. In: Woods, P. A., Roberts, A., Tian, M. and Youngs, H. (eds.) Handbook on Leadership in Education. Series: Elgar handbooks in education. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 474-490. ISBN 9781800880412

Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. and Forde, C. (2023) Leadership and management: a relevant distinction for leadership in education? In: Woods, P. A., Roberts, A., Tian, M. and Youngs, H. (eds.) Handbook on Leadership in Education. Series: Elgar handbooks in education. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 45-59. ISBN 9781800880412

2022

Mitchell, A. (2022) Being a headteacher through the Covid-19 pandemic. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS 2022), Liverpool, UK, 8-10 July 2022.

Forde, C. , Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. and Harvie, J. (2022) Education governance and the role of the headteacher: the new policy problem in Scottish education. Management in Education, 36(1), pp. 18-24. (doi: 10.1177/08920206211057348)

2021

Harvie, J. and Mitchell, A. (2021) The Changing Role of the Headteacher. ECER 2021 European Conference on Educational Research, 06-10 Sep 2021.

Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. and McMahon, M. (2021) Using the Delphi Method to Investigate the Work of School Middle Leadership Teams. ECER 2021 European Conference on Educational Research, 06-10 Sep 2021.

Forde, C. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. and Torrance, D. (2021) The Changing Role of the Headteacher in Scottish Education: Implications for Headship Preparation and Induction. ECER 2021 European Conference on Educational Research, 06-10 Sep 2021.

Mitchell, A. and Baker, M. (2021) An organisational commitment to closing the attainment gap. In: DeWitt, P. M. (ed.) Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening Instructional Leadership Teams. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781071813720

Mitchell, A. (2021) Co-producing Knowledge to Explore the Future of Headship in Scotland. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS 2021), 2-3 July 2021.

Forde, C. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. , Mitchell, A. and Torrance, D. (2021) Back on Track or Re-envisioning a Different Track. Social Justice Leadership and its Implications in the Post-Pandemic Scottish Education Systems. BELMAS UK Review Webinar: Post COVID Future of Educational Leadership and Administration, 26 May 2021.

Mitchell, A. (2021) Leadership during a pandemic. Teaching Scotland, 88, pp. 24-25.

Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. and Forde, C. (2021) How Can Leadership-as-Practice and Collective Leadership Re-Vision Headship? Colloquium on Collective Leadership and L-A-P: How Can We Raise Each Other Up, 21 Jan 2021.

Forde, C. , Torrance, D. , McMahon, M. and Mitchell, A. (2021) Middle leadership and social justice leadership in scottish secondary schools: harnessing the Delphi method’s potential in a participatory action research process. International Studies in Educational Administration, 49(3), pp. 103-121.

Mitchell, A. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , Harvie, J. and McMahon, M. (2021) Social justice leadership in Scottish schools: Building on co-constructed understandings and aspirations. Centre for Leadership and Diversity (CLD) at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Annual International Conference, Toronto, Canada (Online), 9- 10 December 2021.

Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , McMahon, M. A. , Mitchell, A. and Harvie, J. (2021) Potential theoretical approaches to support the critical exploration of ‘the problem(s)’ of preparing, recruiting and retaining headteachers in Scotland. In: Mifsud, D. (ed.) Narratives of Educational Leadership. Series: Educational Leadership Theory. Springer: Singapore, pp. 131-158. ISBN 9789811658303 (doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-5831-0_6)

Torrance, D. , Harvie, J. , Mitchell, A. and Forde, C. (2021) Emerging Issues from the Future of Headship Research Programme. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS 2021), 2-3 July 2021.

This list was generated on Fri Apr 19 20:22:12 2024 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Book Sections | Conference or Workshop Item | Conference Proceedings
Number of items: 34.

Articles

Harvie, J. and Mitchell, A. (2023) The evolving role of the headteacher. Teaching Scotland, 98,

Torrance, D. et al. (2023) Conducting comparative analyses of social justice leadership: creating an international research team from diverse country, policy and education system contexts. Equity in Education and Society, (doi: 10.1177/27526461231194788) (Early Online Publication)

Forde, C. , Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. and Harvie, J. (2022) Education governance and the role of the headteacher: the new policy problem in Scottish education. Management in Education, 36(1), pp. 18-24. (doi: 10.1177/08920206211057348)

Mitchell, A. (2021) Leadership during a pandemic. Teaching Scotland, 88, pp. 24-25.

Forde, C. , Torrance, D. , McMahon, M. and Mitchell, A. (2021) Middle leadership and social justice leadership in scottish secondary schools: harnessing the Delphi method’s potential in a participatory action research process. International Studies in Educational Administration, 49(3), pp. 103-121.

Book Sections

Forde, C. , Harvie, J. , Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. and Kerrigan, K. (2023) Career-long professional learning in Scotland. In: Jones, K., Ostinelli, G. and Crescentini, A. (eds.) Innovation in Teacher Professional Learning in Europe: Research, Policy and Practice. Series: Routledge research in teacher education. Routledge, pp. 90-102. ISBN 9781032334493; eISBN 9781003322610 (doi: 10.4324/9781003322610-8)

Mitchell, A. , Torrance, D. , Harvie, J. , Forde, C. and McMahon, M. (2023) The changing role of the headteacher in Scottish education: implications for career-long teacher education. In: Mifsud, D. and Day, S. P. (eds.) Teacher Education as an Ongoing Professional Trajectory: Implications for Policy and Practice. Series: Teacher education, learning innovation and accountability. Springer: Cham, pp. 181-204. ISBN 9783031286193 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-28620-9_9)

Mitchell, A. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , Harvie, J. and McMahon, M. (2023) Developing leadership for school education: constructions of system leadership. In: Woods, P. A., Roberts, A., Tian, M. and Youngs, H. (eds.) Handbook on Leadership in Education. Series: Elgar handbooks in education. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 474-490. ISBN 9781800880412

Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. and Forde, C. (2023) Leadership and management: a relevant distinction for leadership in education? In: Woods, P. A., Roberts, A., Tian, M. and Youngs, H. (eds.) Handbook on Leadership in Education. Series: Elgar handbooks in education. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 45-59. ISBN 9781800880412

Mitchell, A. and Baker, M. (2021) An organisational commitment to closing the attainment gap. In: DeWitt, P. M. (ed.) Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening Instructional Leadership Teams. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781071813720

Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , McMahon, M. A. , Mitchell, A. and Harvie, J. (2021) Potential theoretical approaches to support the critical exploration of ‘the problem(s)’ of preparing, recruiting and retaining headteachers in Scotland. In: Mifsud, D. (ed.) Narratives of Educational Leadership. Series: Educational Leadership Theory. Springer: Singapore, pp. 131-158. ISBN 9789811658303 (doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-5831-0_6)

Conference or Workshop Item

Mitchell, A. , Black, S., Davren, C. and Harvie, J. (2024) The Key Role of Mentorship in Principals’ Professional Development Trajectories: Impact of a University and District Research/Practice Learning Partnership. ICSEI Congress 2024, Dublin, Ireland, 8-12 January 2024.

Mitchell, A. , Baker, M., Davren, C. and McMahon, M. (2024) Education Policy: In Whose Interests? A Research/Policy/Practice University and School District Professional Learning Partnership to Strengthen Leadership of and for Critically Conscious School Communities. ICSEI Congress 2024, Dublin, Ireland, 8-12 January 2024.

Mitchell, A. (2023) Headteachers (School Principals) as System Leaders: Understandings, Provocations and Propositions. Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) Conference 2023, Edinburgh, Scotland, 22-24 November 2023.

Mitchell, A. (2023) Shifting Constructions of Headship/Principalship in Scottish Education: Implications for Professional Learning and Empowerment in School Communities. Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) Conference 2023, Edinburgh, Scotland, 22-24 November 2023.

McMahon, M. and Mitchell, A. (2023) Development of a Politically Cognisant Teaching Profession to Navigate Global and Glocal Ambiguities and Transformations. Association of Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) Winter Conference, Braga, Portugal, 26-28 Oct 2023.

Mitchell, A. and Baker, M. (2023) Politically Astute Principalship for Critically Conscious School Communities: A University/District Partnership. 4th Annual Centre for Leadership and Diversity (CLD) International Conference, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Toronto, Canada, 13-14 October 2023.

Harvie, J. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , McMahon, M. and Mitchell, A. (2023) Leadership and Management: A Relevant Distinction for Leadership in Education? European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2023), Glasgow, UK, 22-25 Aug 2023.

Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , Forde, C. , Torrance, D. and McMahon, M. (2023) Career-long Professional Learning in Scotland: Questions for the Future. European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2023), Glasgow, UK, 22-25 Aug 2023.

Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. , Reid, A. and Baker, M. (2023) System-level Education Reform in Scotland: Implications for Teacher Education = Riforma dell'istruzione a livello di sistema in Scozia: Implicazioni per la formazione degli insegnanti. 20th Biennial International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) Conference 2023, Bari, Italy, 3-7 July 2023.

Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. , Drennan, O., Arthur, J., Reid, A. and Baker, M. (2023) Enhanced Political Awareness: Authentic Engagement in a Research/Practice Partnership to Strengthen Leadership for Critically Conscious School Communities. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) Annual Conference 2023, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 14-16 July 2023.

Mitchell, A. and Harvie, J. (2023) Re-envisioning School Leadership – The Evolving Role of Headteachers in Scotland. General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) Conference 2023, Glasgow, UK, 18 May 2023.

Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. and McMahon, M. (2023) Reimagining School Leadership Post-Pandemic: Learning From the Experiences of Headteachers in Scotland = Reimaginando el liderazgo escolar después de la pandemia: Aprendiendo de las experiencias de Directores en Escocia. International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) Annual International Conference, Viña del Mar, Chile, 10-13 Jan 2023.

Mitchell, A. (2022) Being a headteacher through the Covid-19 pandemic. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS 2022), Liverpool, UK, 8-10 July 2022.

Harvie, J. and Mitchell, A. (2021) The Changing Role of the Headteacher. ECER 2021 European Conference on Educational Research, 06-10 Sep 2021.

Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. and McMahon, M. (2021) Using the Delphi Method to Investigate the Work of School Middle Leadership Teams. ECER 2021 European Conference on Educational Research, 06-10 Sep 2021.

Forde, C. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. and Torrance, D. (2021) The Changing Role of the Headteacher in Scottish Education: Implications for Headship Preparation and Induction. ECER 2021 European Conference on Educational Research, 06-10 Sep 2021.

Mitchell, A. (2021) Co-producing Knowledge to Explore the Future of Headship in Scotland. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS 2021), 2-3 July 2021.

Forde, C. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. , Mitchell, A. and Torrance, D. (2021) Back on Track or Re-envisioning a Different Track. Social Justice Leadership and its Implications in the Post-Pandemic Scottish Education Systems. BELMAS UK Review Webinar: Post COVID Future of Educational Leadership and Administration, 26 May 2021.

Torrance, D. , Mitchell, A. , Harvie, J. , McMahon, M. and Forde, C. (2021) How Can Leadership-as-Practice and Collective Leadership Re-Vision Headship? Colloquium on Collective Leadership and L-A-P: How Can We Raise Each Other Up, 21 Jan 2021.

Mitchell, A. , Torrance, D. , Forde, C. , Harvie, J. and McMahon, M. (2021) Social justice leadership in Scottish schools: Building on co-constructed understandings and aspirations. Centre for Leadership and Diversity (CLD) at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Annual International Conference, Toronto, Canada (Online), 9- 10 December 2021.

Torrance, D. , Harvie, J. , Mitchell, A. and Forde, C. (2021) Emerging Issues from the Future of Headship Research Programme. British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS 2021), 2-3 July 2021.

Conference Proceedings

Mitchell, A. , McMahon, M. , Reid, A., Baker, M., Drennan, O. and Arthur, J. (2023) Leading Critically Conscious School Communities: A Research/Practice Partnership to Strengthen Political Literacy in School Principals = Principali scuole criticamente consapevoli: Un partenariato di ricerca/pratica per rafforzare l'alfabetizzazione politica nei dirigenti scolastici. In: 20th Biennial International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) Conference 2023, Bari, Italy, 3-7 July 2023, (Accepted for Publication)

Harvie, J. , Mitchell, A. , Forde, C. , Torrance, D. and McMahon, M. (2023) School Leadership in Globally Challenging Times: Developing Understandings Through Life History Narratives. In: British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) Annual Conference 2023, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 14-16 July 2023, (Accepted for Publication)

This list was generated on Fri Apr 19 20:22:12 2024 BST.

Supervision

Current Supervision:

 

MEd Childhood Practice (One Supervisee)

  • Professional Reviews in Early Years settings in Scotland: A critical exploration of the process and the potential.

MEd Educational Leadership (Five Supervisees)

  1. Exploring Tensions and Challenges at the Broad General Education to Senior Phase Transition in Scotland’s Curriculum

  2. Excellence and Equity for All? A Critical Investigation into the Relationship between Early School Leavers and Youth Unemployment, using Scotland as a case study context.

  3. Wellbeing and Learning Post-Pandemic: Amplifying the voices of early secondary school students.

  4. Culturally Responsive Leadership as a Significant Factor in Effective Home-School Partnerships: A Conceptual Framework

  5. A critical exploration of the relationship and tensions between policy and practice within the ‘presumption of mainstream’ in education.

Teaching

Current Teaching at the University of Glasgow School of Education:

 

Previous Teaching at the University of Glasgow School of Education:

 

Professional Learning and Teaching with Glasgow City Council:

 

Other Contributions:

 

Additional information

Member of:

 

Twitter / X: Alison Mitchell; Future of Headship