BYITC Inspire Awards Judges
Derek began his educational journey at Cairnhill Primary School in New Cumnock, and along the way, studied at Carntyne Primary School, Smithycroft Secondary School, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Strathclyde. Derek holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences (2009), a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (2012) and a Masters in Educational Leadership (2017). Derek is fully registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC Scotland) in the categories of Secondary and Further Education.
Derek commenced his career in Scottish education as a Business Development Consultant with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) before advancing to teach Social Subjects at Hyndland Secondary School and Drumchapel High School in Glasgow. In 2014, Derek transitioned to FE, and during his time at City of Glasgow College, occupied a number of roles including Business Lecturer, Senior Lecturer: Administration and IT and Associate Dean: Business and Management where he had strategic responsibility for all staff and students within the curricular areas of Business, Administration and IT and Legal Services.
Derek commenced his career in Scottish education as a Business Development Consultant with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) before advancing to teach Social Subjects at Hyndland Secondary School and Drumchapel High School in Glasgow. In 2014, Derek transitioned to FE, and during his time at City of Glasgow College, occupied a number of roles including Business Lecturer, Senior Lecturer: Administration and IT and Associate Dean: Business and Management where he had strategic responsibility for all staff and students within the curricular areas of Business, Administration and IT and Legal Services.
In January 2021, Derek joined GTC Scotland on a two year contract as a Senior Education Officer (SEO) where he formed part of the organisation’s Senior Education Team (SET). During this time, Derek helped to spearhead the national rollout of the College Lecturer Registration Programme, contributed to the College Lecturer Registration Working Group (CLRWG) and was Co-chair of the Professionalism Sub Group (PSG). Derek also regularly acted as Servicing Officer for Professional Update (PU) Validations and Re-validations supporting colleges across Scotland. In 2022, Derek was part of the judging panel for the College Development Network (CDN) Awards.
Derek’s specialist teaching areas include economics, management and politics. He was a National Committee Member of the Modern Studies Association for over five years, and has been employed as a Qualifications Development Specialist (QDS) by SQA. Derek was recently part of the Qualifications Review Team (QRT) for the new Higher National (HN) Business Framework. Derek is a Chartered Fellow (CMgr FCMI) of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and, since 2015, has co-authored and edited a number of Modern Studies texts for leading Scottish educational publisher, Bright Red Publishing, the latest being a Higher Modern Studies Study Guide, which was released in May 2021. Currently, Derek has returned to secondary education and is once again teaching with Glasgow City Council as well as working on several new subject-specific texts which will be due for publication in early 2024. Derek is also undertaking a wide range of educational consultancy work relating to both NQ and HN Qualifications in Scotland.
A well-respected, committed and experienced education management professional, Derek has built a highly successful career by ensuring that learners had access to an inclusive and fit for purpose curriculum that allowed them to successfully develop skills for life, skills for learning and skills for work and flourish in a competitive and ever-changing global society. Derek is determined to ensure that the learners he works with find positive and sustainable destinations whether that be continuing with their studies, embarking on work based training programmes or securing empowering employment. He is passionate about the role education can play in transforming lives and increasing the life chances of Scotland’s children and young people. Derek lives in Glasgow, has a 16 year old daughter and, in his spare time, enjoys playing golf.
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Award Date – 30th April 2024
| Time – 5.30 to 7.30pm
Last Date of Nominations :15th March 2024British Parliament London