Name Mary Bousted | ||
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Mary bousted address to conference 2016
Mary Winefride Bousted (née Bleasdale; born 15 September 1959, Bolton, Lancashire, England) is the General Secretary of the teachers' union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
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Early life
She is the daughter of Edward and Winefride Bleasdale. She attended St Osmund's RC Primary School in a deprived area of Bolton, Breightmet, where her dad was the headmaster. She went to a Catholic girls' direct grant grammar school, the Mount St Joseph School. She was the second-youngest of eight children. Her mother was also a teacher, and supported the Labour Party. Her father supported the Liberals, and was determined for those at the primary school to pass the 11-plus. The singer Badly Drawn Boy is also from this part of Bolton.
She attended the University of Hull, gaining a BA in English. From the University of Durham, she gained a PGCE. She describes Durham and Hull as monocultural higher education institutions. From the Institute of Education she gained an MA. Later from the University of York she gained a PhD.
Career
She taught English from 1982-87 at Bentley Wood High School in Harrow. From 1988-91 she was Head of English at Whitmore High School in Harrow.
From 1991-95 she was a lecturer at the University of York, becoming Director of Initial Teacher Training from 1995-97.
From 1997-99 she was Head of Secondary Education at Edge Hill College (became Edge Hill University in 2006), then at the School of Education at Kingston University from 1999-2003.
In July 2010, Bousted was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Edge Hill University.
In September 2016 she was elected as President of the Trades Union Congress for 2016/17.
ATL
She became General Secretary of the ATL in 2003.
Personal life
She married Donald Bousted in 1983. She and her husband are now separated. They have one daughter. She has lived for many years in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.