Mark Steenson is a Teacher Associate at the Centre for Teaching Excellence, working on secondment whilst continuing his leadership role within Glasgow City Council. Mark is currently a Faculty Head of Business Education and Computing Science.

Mark has held a range of leadership positions; including Principal Teacher of Digital Learning, Principal Teacher of Raising Attainment and Principal Teacher of Professional Learning. Mark has experience in curriculum development, attainment, and professional learning at both school and local authority level. 

His work at the Centre focuses on research-informed professional learning, professional enquiry, and leadership development, with a particular interest in skills development, employability, and inclusive education practice. Mark is committed to strengthening practitioner voice and supporting collaboration across schools, local authorities, universities, and partners.

Mark holds a Master's degree in Practitioner Research and a Master’s in Education, alongside a PDGE in Business Education. He is an experienced Marker and Vice president of the Scottish Business Education Association. Mark has also served as a lay member for HM Inspectorate of Education, contributing to inspection and review processes grounded in classroom practice and leadership experience.

Mark's research interests centre on practitioner enquiry and research-informed professional learning, with a particular focus on how teachers and middle leaders engage with research to inform classroom practice, curriculum design and leadership decision-making. He is interested in the professional conditions that support meaningful reflection, sustained enquiry and the translation of research into practice within schools and across the education systems.

A key area of interest is skills development and capacity building for both young people and education professionals. This includes exploring how curriculum design, pedagogy and assessment can support the development of transferable skills, leadership capacity and learner agency, alongside how professional learning can building confidence, capability and adaptive expertise among staff.

Mark's research also focuses on inclusive and equitable educational practice, examining how structures, policies and everyday professional routines can either enable or constrain participation, attainment and belonging. Mark is also interested in leadership development and distributed leaderships, particularly the role of middle leaders in shaping culture, professional learning and improvement.

More broadly, Mark is interested in system-level collaboration and partnership working, including how schools, Local Authorities, Universities and National Organisations can work together to strengthen skills development, bridge research and practice, and support sustainable improvement in Scottish education.

Dissertations and Practitioner Research

• Do Universities provide Graduates with the necessary skills for employment - A critical case study based on a post-1992 Business School.
• Initial Teacher Education, employability and skills in Business Education - A critical case study.
• How does Business Education curriculum in Scotland support the development of employability skills in a SIMD 1 area of deprivation
• Improving learners' literacy within a secondary Business Education classroom - Is literacy the key to closing the attainment gap?

Posts Held

Teacher Associate - Centre for Teaching Excellence

Faculty Head of Business and Computing Science - Glasgow City Council

Principal Teacher of Digital Learning - Glasgow City Council

Principal Teacher of Proffesional Learning - Glasgow City Council

Principal Teacher of Raising Attainment - Glasgow City Council

Teacher of Business Education - Glasgow City Council

Lay Member - His Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe)

Memberships

General Teaching Council for Scotland Registration

Fully registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland. Registration (2015)

Vice President - Scottish Business Education Association (SBEA)

Mark serves as Vice President of the Scottish Business Education Association, where he plays a key role in supporting proffesional networks for Business Education teachers across Scotland. Through this role, he contributes to National discussions on currciulum design, assessment, skills development, employability and works collaborativly with practitioners, local authorities and National bodies to Stregthen subject-specific proffesional learning.