Professor John MacBeath, O.B.E. 
(Stories of Improvement: Exploring and Embracing Diversity)

John MacBeath is the Chair of Educational Leadership at the University of Cambridge and Director of Learning for Leadership: the Cambridge Network and the Carpe Vitam (Wallenberg) Centre.  He was a Modern Languages teacher in Eastwood Secondary School and Paisley Grammar School in Scotland before entering teacher education at Jordanhill College in Glasgow and in 1992 became Director of the Quality in Education Centre at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.  From 1997 to 2001 he was a member of the Government's Task Force on Standards and from 1997 to 1999 Scotland's Action Group Standards. He has worked closely with the National Union of Teachers since 1994 and the National Association of Headteachers and continues to work with teachers and teacher organizations in Britain and elsewhere.  He has held numerous overseas consultancies  including the  Hong Kong Education Department, the Swiss Federal Government, the Bertelsmann Foundation in Germany, The Varkey Group in Dubai,  the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNESCO and ILO (International Labour Organisation), the European Commission on a school self-evaluation and on European indicators. He was for four years a member of the ICSEI Board and is a regular attendee and contributor to ICSEI conferences. His current research includes: