Colin Knight (educationalist)
{{Short description|New Zealand educationalist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Colin Knight
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM|size=100%}}
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| birth_name = Colin Leslie Knight
| birth_date = {{Birth date |1934|09|02|df=y}}
| birth_place = Rotherham, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age |2016|04|14|1934|09|02|df=y}}
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| workplaces = Christchurch Teachers' College
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| alma_mater = University of Georgia
| thesis_title = An international study of relationships between geographic knowledge of students and their attitude to other nationalities
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| thesis_year = 1982
| doctoral_advisor = Marion Jennings Rice
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| spouse = {{marriage|Noela Yvonne Harman|1958}}
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Colin Leslie Knight {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM|size=85%}} (2 September 1934 – 14 April 2016) was a New Zealand educationalist. He served as principal of the Christchurch Teachers' College from 1986 to 1995.
Early life and family
Born at Rotherham, North Canterbury, on 2 September 1934, Knight was the son of James Percy Knight and Rosetta Knight (née Beaman).{{cite news |last1=Fletcher |first1=Jack |title=Dr Colin Knight's huge contribution to education |url= https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/79226831/dr-colin-knights-huge-contribution-to-education |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Stuff |date=27 April 2016}} He studied at Canterbury University College, from where he graduated Master of Arts with second-class honours in 1958.{{cite web |url= http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/university13.html |title=NZ university graduates 1870–1961: I–K |date= |website= |publisher= |accessdate=15 April 2016}} The same year he married Noela Yvonne Harman; the couple went on to have two children.
Career
Knight began his teaching career at Ashburton High School in 1957, before moving to Burnside High School in Christchurch in 1960. He was a senior lecturer at Christchurch Teachers' College from 1966 to 1972 and then an inspector of schools from 1973 to 1984.
In 1982, Knight was conferred the degree of Doctor of Education by the University of Georgia. His thesis, supervised by Marion Rice, was entitled An international study of relationships between geographic knowledge of students and their attitude to other nationalities.{{cite web |url= http://gilfind.uga.edu/vufind/Record/904135 |title=An international study of relationships between geographic knowledge of students and their attitude to other nationalities |date= |website=GIL-Find |publisher=UGA Libraries |accessdate=15 April 2016}}
Knight served as the Canterbury regional superintendent of education between 1984 and 1986, when he was appointed a principal of Christchurch Teachers' College. During his tenure, the college underwent major restructuring, moving from State control to almost complete autonomy, and was renamed the Christchurch College of Education. Knight retired in 1995.{{cite news | title=Knight's role in education noted | date=31 December 1998 | work=The Press | page=11}} He also served as president of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, and vice president of the New Zealand Council for Teacher Education.
In the 1999 New Year Honours, Knight was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education.{{cite web |url= https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-1999 |title=New Year honours list 1999 |date=31 December 1998 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=31 August 2019}}
Knight wrote 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).
Politics
At the 1969 general election, Knight ran for Parliament as the National Party candidate in Christchurch Central. He came second, 3406 votes behind the Labour candidate, Bruce Barclay.{{cite book |last = Norton |first = Clifford |title = New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science |year = 1988 |publisher = Victoria University of Wellington |isbn = 0-475-11200-8 }}
Later life and death
Knight was set to chair the board of the Christchurch Baccalaureate College, which was set to open in 2002.{{cite news | title=New high school for Chch | date=24 June 2000 | work=The Press | page=1 | first=Andrew | last=Kelly}} However, the school failed financially in August 2001 and never opened.{{cite news | title=Parents left scrabbling as new college folds | date=25 September 2001 | work=The Press | first=Tara | last=Ross}} A lover of rhododendrons, Knight served as president of the Canterbury Rhododendron Society.{{cite news | title=Some like it hot | date=7 August 2010 | work=The Press | page=9}}
Knight died on 14 April 2016.{{cite news | url= http://deaths.press.co.nz/obituaries/the-press-nz/obituary.aspx?n=colin-knight&pid=179618300 | title=Dr Colin Knight death notice | date=15 April 2016 | work=The Press | accessdate=16 April 2016}}
References
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Category:People from Rotherham, New Zealand
Category:University of Canterbury alumni
Category:University of Georgia alumni
Category:New Zealand schoolteachers
Category:Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Category:New Zealand National Party politicians
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election