Dr Meng Tian

Dr Meng Tian

School of Education
Associate Professor in Educational Leadership
Director of Global Engagement for the College of Social Science

Contact details

Email
m.tian@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@MengTian84046806
View my research portal
Address
Education Leadership Academy
School of Education
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Meng Tian joined the Education Leadership Academy, Department of Teacher Education in 2021. Her teaching and research interests lie in distributed leadership, social justice leadership, leaders’ and teachers’ professional development, education leadership policy-making, and comparative education. Currently, she teaches in the PGDip Educational Leadership Programme and MA Education Programme (Leadership pathway) and supervises PhD theses and Master dissertations. Her latest research, on Cultivating Global Citizenship, aims to transform research-based global citizenship teacher CPD training into tangible teacher competencies while nurturing a heightened sense of global responsibility among youth. 

As of May 2024, Meng Tian serves as the Director of Global Engagement for the College of Social Science. Her responsibilities include leading and strategising for university reputation and ranking, international student recruitment and experience, international research collaboration, as well as staff and student mobility.

On top of her teaching and research work at the University of Birmingham, she also holds appointments as the co-Convenor for the Network 26 Educational leadership at the European Educational Research Association (EERA) and Associate Editor for the Sage journal Educational Management, Administration & Leadership.  

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • PhD in Educational Leadership (Institute of Educational Leadership, University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
  • M.A. in Educational Leadership (Institute of Educational Leadership, University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
  • B.A. in Educational Administration (Faculty of Public Administration, East China Normal University, China)

Teaching

Current Teaching

  • PGDip MA Educational Leadership 
  • MA Education (Educational leadership pathway)
  • MA Dissertation

Modules

  • Understanding School Improvement
  • Dissertation

External Examination Appointments

  • External examiner for the University of Northampton 2019-2023

Postgraduate supervision

Distributed leadership
Social justice leadership
Leaders’ and teachers’ professional development
Educational leadership policymaking
Comparative education

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Tian, M 2023, Arts-based research methods for educational researchers. Qualitative and Visual Methodologies in Educational Research, 1st edn, Routledge. <https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003196105>

Woods, P, Roberts, A, Tian, M & Youngs, H (eds) 2023, Handbook on Leadership in Education. Elgar Handbooks in Education, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. <https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-leadership-in-education-9781800880412.html>

Article

Spicksley, K, Kotzee, B & Tian, M 2026, 'Visible yet fuzzy: New adventures in (post)panopticism under England’s 2019 Education Inspection Framework', Journal of Education Policy.

Tian, M & Yan, W 2025, 'Professional development beyond borders: University-led CPD programmes for educators in international contexts', Management in Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/08920206251389840

Tian, M 2024, 'Embracing complexity: rethinking education inspection in England', Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2024.2325660

Tian, M & Diamond, C 2024, 'OfSTED from within: Inspectors’ views on challenges and future direction', Educational Management Administration & Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241292284

Tian, M 2023, 'A critical friend or the sword of Damocles: Headteachers’ use of micropolitical strategies in inspection', Educational Management Administration & Leadership, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231222719

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Youngs, H, Roberts, A, Tian, M & Woods, PA 2023, Disrupted leadership in education. in PA Woods, A Roberts, M Tian & H Youngs (eds), Handbook on Leadership in Education. Elgar Handbooks in Education, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., pp. 517-535. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800880429

Woods, PA, Roberts, A, Tian, M & Youngs, H 2023, Introduction: leadership in education: an inherently fractured field? in PA Woods, A Roberts, M Tian & H Youngs (eds), Handbook on Leadership in Education. 1 edn, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800880429.00006

Roberts, A, Tian, M, Woods, PA & Youngs, H 2023, Part I: Conceptual Issues Concerning Leadership in Education. in PA Woods, A Roberts, M Tian & H Youngs (eds), Handbook on Leadership in Education. Elgar Handbooks in Education, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., pp. 13-15. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800880429.00007

Other contribution

Tian, M 2026, Global Citizenship Education for Climate Justice and Sustainability. Academy of Social Sciences. <https://acss.org.uk/global-citizenship-education-for-climate-justice-and-sustainability/>

Tian, M & Diamond, C 2025, Inspecting Academy Trusts: Recommendations for the Department for Education and Ofsted. University of Birmingham. <https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/about/college-of-social-sciences/inspecting-academy-trusts-recommendations >

Tian, M & Diamond, C 2025, Ofsted Inspection Report Cards: Lessons Learned from the Inspectorates of Wales and Scotland. University of Birmingham. <https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/about/college-of-social-sciences/policy-engagement/ofsted-report-cards-lessons-learned-from-wales-and-scotland>

Tian, M & Diamond, C 2025, Parental engagement in Ofsted inspections: Recommendations for the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted . University of Birmingham. <https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/about/college-of-social-sciences/policy-engagement/parental-engagement-in-ofsted-inspections-recommendations>

Review article

Tian, M & Rautiainen, M 2024, 'Academies in England and Independent Schools in Finland: A Distributed Leadership Perspective', Education Sciences, vol. 14, no. 2, 1376. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14121376

View all publications in research portal