Contact Details

Telephone

work +44 (0)1224 274512

Email

neil.mclennan@abdn.ac.uk

Address

The University of Aberdeen Neil DR McLennan FRSA FSA Scot MYAS OSS
Senior Lecturer &
Director of Leadership Programmes
Associate,  Centre for Global Security & Governance Studies
University of Aberdeen
Room 520, MacRobert Building
King's College
Aberdeen
AB24 5UA
UK
+44 (0)1224 274512
neil.mclennan@abdn.ac.uk
 

Biography

Neil McLennan has held a number of key roles in supporting change and improvement in public services.  After a teaching career in the central belt he was seconded to Learning & Teaching Scotland (now Education Scotland) as a National Development Officer.  After two successful secondments implementing national policy he moved to the North East as Quality Improvement Officer (Education, Culture and Sport) for Aberdeen City Council where he also undertook a period as Acting Service Manager (Schools & Curriculum). He continues to be a Reading Champion for Aberdeen City Council and is also a Burgess of Guild of the City and Royal Burgh of Aberdeen.

In 2011 The Herald described Neil as, "a charismatic visionary in Scottish education."  In 2018 Dame Sue Bruce DBE described Neil as "a pioneering figure in Scottish education."

Neil has led a number of national education organisations and professional membership bodies.  He is a former President of both the Scottish Association of Teachers of History (SATH) and the Enterprise Practitioners’ Association (EPA).   Neil was a co-chair and the General Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland and former Trustee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Foundation (the National Academy of Scotland).  Neil was the chair of the RSE YAS Curriculum for Excellence Working Group and the Excellence in Education Working Group.  These groups engaged in issues as diverse as inter-disciplinary learning, numeracy, skill development, aspirations and the recruitment and retention of teachers.

Neil regularly leads school leader and teacher in‐service training course and residential courses on a broad range of themes such as pedagogy, education change and improvement.  He also delivers internationally on active learning, citizenship, history and social studies education.  He is an established author with textbooks being used in Scottish Schools across the country and his other articles and publications used by leaders in education and beyond.  He is a regular contributor to TESS and other national media outlets.  He has had a skills column in the Courier Newspaper, still writes a history column in History Scotland magazine and also appears on radio and broadcast media shows on education, skills and current affairs related matters.  Neil was a Scotsman 200 writer and also reguarly reviews publications, most reccently for publications such as Bloomsbury, Scottish Education Review and Scottish Archives.  

Neil was awarded Professional Recognition for Enterprise in Education by the General Teaching Council Scotland and also was the recipient of a Royal Society of Edinburgh Medal for “for his outstanding contribution to civic society, creativity and social enterprise, education and the social sciences.”  He has also completed the Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES) Senior Leadership Development Programme as well as ILM accreditation for Leadership in Social Enterprise.

Neil also sits on a number of panels and working groups including previously being involved in Ministerial Working Groups and giving evidence to Government Comission.  He is a lay advisor to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Director of the Royal Caledonian Education Trust, North East Scotland College and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.  He was a Board Director for Connect (the Scottish Parent Teacher Council) and a Board Director for the Scottish College for Educational Leadership before it was subsumed into Education Scotland.

Neil supports leaders across public and uniformed services in his role as Senior Lecturer and Director of Leadership Programmes at the University of Aberdeen School of Education.  He has lectured across the world including invites to speak at University of Oxford, Korea University (South Korea), Toyo University (Tokyo, Japan), Athens State University (Alabama, USA), Valenciennes University (France) and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (UK).

Neil retains an interest in history and history education where he still researches, writes and lectures extensively.  His main focus areas are The First World War, First World War poet Wilfred Owen's 're-education' and Scottish History.  The poet Helen Boden described Neil as an "indefatigable researcher." Neil's research work into the Great War was described by STV journalists as "great detective work."  The Evening Express noted him as "one of the top authorities on the First World War."  Neil was appointed an ambassador of the Western Front Association in 2020. He is also an honorary member of the Wilfred Owen Association.

Memberships and Affiliations

Publications