Rosemary Grady

Lecturer in Educational Leadership & Learning

Background

Born and educated in Fife, I worked for Fife Council, Education and Children Services since graduation from Northern College of Education in 1994. I took up my first post as a probation primary teacher in 1994 and over the years gained promotion to Assistant Headteacher, Depute Headteacher and then acting Headteacher for 23 months. After a term as acting Headteacher in another local school I gained my first permanent Headship in 2006 and then gained my second Headship in a former mining area in 2010. My time as headteacher in this school offered me my most significant challenge as a school leader, leading a systemic cultural change throughout all aspects of the school. This experience though at times very challenging also remains for me my proudest professional achievement. With the support of the entire school community, we established a collective vision, a set of tangible and shared values which were the drivers which moved the school towards ensuring increased outcomes for all in the community we served. The school was later recognised by HMIe as outstanding in regard to pupil engagement. In 2014 I was seconded to lead Fife’s Pedagogy Team, which was established to build pedagogical capacity and expertise in schools serving the most disadvantaged communities. Our team aims at that time for “Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage” through supporting staff pedagogies built upon nurturing relationships was an important prior step to the work schools now do in supporting the notion of “closing the gap”. The team went on to be awarded one of the first national GTCS Excellence in Professional Learning Awards. My leadership approach as Pedagogy Team Leader changed in response to the significant skills and expertise of the team as well as the changing role I now played as Local Authority Development Officer. In 2016, I took up a new role as Professional Learning and Leadership Development Officer within Fife’s Professional Learning Team. I am passionate about opportunities for quality Professional Learning for all staff in schools and continue to be curious about the impact engaging in Professional Learning has on all practitioners and ultimately the children and young people we serve in our roles as educators. As a Senior Teaching Fellow in Educational Leadership and Learning since 2018 at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, I have brought my experiences from these roles to the MEd Leadership and Learning programme as a Personal Tutor and Course Organiser for the Scottish headship preparation programme, Into Headship.

CV

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Qualifications

B.Ed (Primary)

Responsibilities & affiliations

I am currently co-chair of the Scottish Professional Learning Network and also work collaboratively with GTCS and Education Scotland on a number of initiatives and projects.

Postgraduate teaching

I currently teach across programmes within our M.Ed Leadership and Learning. I mainly focus upon the Into Headship programme which prepares school leaders for the role of headship and awards the GTCS Standard for Headship upon successful completion.

I also teach and support students engaging in the Middle Leadership and Management and Extended Work Based Project courses.

Research summary

Educational leadership and teacher learning 

Current research interests

I am currently studying for an EdD at University of Strathclyde with Dr Joan Mowat and Professor Aileen Kennedy as my supervisor team. My EdD research focusses on exploring the influence of the current Into Headship programme on former participants who are newly-appointed headteachers in Scotland at this time. My study also seeks to explore what other aspects are influential on their development as new headteachers. My research themes include identity, socialisation and communities of practice. I plan to work with a group of former participants from across Scotland over a period of 1.5 years adopting a case study approach which includes creative approaches to data gathering.