Les Bell University of Leicester, UK

Les Bell is Emeritus Professor of Educational Leadership at the Universities of Leicester and Lincoln.  He trained as a teacher at Goldsmiths College, London and taught in both primary and secondary schools.  He joined the Education Department at Coventry College of Education and subsequently became a member of the Education Department at the University of Warwick. He has held posts at the Universities of Warwick, Liverpool John Moores, Lincoln and Leicester. He has written and researched extensively on educational management and leadership, particularly on ambiguity theory, strategy and change management, leading schools in challenging circumstances, new developments in educational leadership and the formulation and implementation impact of government policy and its impact on schools. He is co-editor, with Howard Stevenson, of Organizing Public Education – a four volume collection in the Major Works series. London, Sage His latest publications Leading Schools in Challenging Circumstance: Strategies for Success. London. Bloomsbury Press (2016), (with Phil Smith) and Agency, Structure and the NEET Policy Problem: The Experiences of Young People. London. Bloomsbury (2017) (with Ian Thurlby-Campbell)