Colin Knight, New Zealand educationalist, Died at 81

  Educator

Colin Leslie Knight was born on September 2, 1934, and died on April 14, 2016.

He was a New Zealand educationalist.

Colin served as principal of Christchurch Teachers’ College from 1986 to 1995.

He started his teaching career at Ashburton High School in 1957, before moving to Burnside High School in Christchurch in 1960.

Colin Knight was a senior lecturer at Christchurch Teachers’ College from 1966 to 1972 and then an inspector of schools from 1973 to 1984.

During 1982, Colin was conferred the degree of Doctor of Education by the University of Georgia.

His research was supervised by Marion Rice, was entitled An international study of relationships between geographic knowledge of students and their attitude to other nationalities.

Knight served as the Canterbury regional superintendent of education between 1984 and 1986, when he was appointed a principal of Christchurch Teachers’ College.

Over the years, the college underwent major restructuring, moving from State control to almost complete autonomy, and was renamed the Christchurch College of Education.

He retired in 1995.

Colin also served as president of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, and vice president of the New Zealand Council for Teacher Education.

During the 1999 New Year Honours Knight was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to education.

Colin Knight had written a number of textbooks for secondary school students, including Becoming a New Zealander (1970), The Instant Society (1972), and New Zealand Geography: a Systems Approach (with John Buckland and Frank McPherson; 1973.

During the 1969 general election, Colin Knight ran for Parliament as the National Party candidate in Christchurch Central.

Colin came second with 3406 of the votes behind the Labour candidate, Bruce Barclay.

Colin Knight passed away at 81 yrs old.