distinguished new zealand geographer medallist

New Zealand Geographer

(2007)

63

, 69–72 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2007.00088.x

© 2007 The AuthorJournal compilation © 2007 The New Zealand Geographical Society Inc. Published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

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Distinguished New Zealand Geographer Medallist

Mr Chris Davidson was awarded the Distin-guished New Zealand Geographer Medal atthe 2006 Annual General Meeting of theNew Zealand Geographical Society, held inWellington on 20 September 2006.

Chris Davidson is a graduate of the Depart-ment of Geography at the University ofCanterbury (MA 1966). After completing theDiploma of Teaching in 1967, he joined thestaff of Karamu High School, Hastings. In1972 he moved to Freyberg High School inPalmerston North, and two years later wasappointed to an expert group to advise theMinister of Education on geography teachingin New Zealand high schools. After a one-yearteaching fellowship at Victoria University ofWellington in 1978, he was seconded to theDepartment of Education, where his experi-ence became the basis for a departmental pub-lication,

G3 Geography Field Studies, Forms 5–7

(1981)

.

In 1981, he was appointed to the staffof the Department, moving in 1990 to the NewZealand Qualifications Authority as Assess-ment and Moderation Officer. He returned tothe Ministry of Education in 1998 as CurriculumFacilitator, before retiring in 2000.

During a long career in the classroom andas an educational administrator, he helpeddevelop an integrated Forms 5–7 syllabus ingeography, and promoted formal recognitionof internally assessed work in the country’shigh schools. This work became a model forother high school teaching subjects. He servedas Team Leader on a World Bank project todevelop curricula for primary and secondaryschools in Vanuatu, moderated state examina-tions, reviewed standards-based assessment inForm 6 geography, and from June 1998 helpedto draft National Certificate of EducationalAchievement standards for geography, historyand social studies. His activities enhanced theteaching and standing of geography in NewZealand high schools, and strengthened links

between schools and universities, ensuringthat problem solving and communication skillsbecame part of the geography student’s basictraining. His impact on geographical educationin New Zealand is recognized in this prestig-ious award.

Peter Holland

University of Otago

February 2007631

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The Transit New Zealand: Year 13 Geography Competition

This competition, run annually, seeks to findthe best independent study completed bystudents in New Zealand secondary schools. Inthe past the competition focused specificallyon students’ exploration of Planning and Deci-sion Making issues, but since 2005 it has beenopen to any independent piece of work com-pleted by Year 13 students. This decision,whilst making marking more difficult for theuniversity tasked with this role each year, hasenabled a much wider range of student workto be considered.

The New Zealand Board of GeographyTeachers would like to congratulate the fol-lowing students for their success on the finework they submitted. We would also like tothank Transit New Zealand which enables theawarding of generous financial prizes, and theNew Zealand Geographical Society and uni-versities whose support enables us to run thecompetition at a national level.

First

:

Stacey Wrenn of Chilton St JamesSchool, Lower Hutt, ‘The Lanes Proposal’

Roading Prize

:

Michael Moughan of Palmer-ston North Boys’ High School, ‘The ManawatuRing Road’

Highly Commended

:

Florence Thane ofTauranga Girls’ High School, ‘The TaurangaMuseum’; Devlin Elliott of Hillcrest HighSchool, Hamilton, ‘The Mount Reef Issue’;Arun Jain of Glendowie College, Auckland,‘The Tank Farm’.