Hands-on experiments, exciting demonstrations and getting students involved in making predictions are the cornerstones of Doug Walker’s science teaching philosophy.
Doug Walker, head of science at St Patrick's College in Wellington, has been awarded the 2022 Prime Minister's Science Teacher Prize. Photo: Supplied / Prime Minister's Science Prizes
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For the past 11 years Doug has been the head of science at St Patrick’s College in Kilbirnie, Wellington. Over that time, the school has seen an increase in the percentage of students taking science.
This was helped in no small part by Doug leading the development of a new general science course as an option for students in Year 12, as well as collaborating with other organisations such as Wellington Zoo, Te Papa and NIWA to bring science out of the classroom and into real life.
Doug Walker, head of science at St Patrick's College in Wellington, in action in the classroom. Photo: Supplied / Prime Minister's Science Prizes
But through online NCEA webinars and YouTube science demonstration videos he has also reached many more students and teachers both regionally and nationally.
The prize comes with $150,000 and Doug is hoping to use it to enable St Patrick’s teachers to travel to learn from other kura, and to support students that might be lacking financial means to get involved in science trips or competitions.
Listen in to hear more about what Doug’s classroom is like, and how he never misses an opportunity to share his love of science.
To learn more:
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Listen to the full Our Changing World episode
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See Doug’s YouTube videos
