Honouring Deb Walker

As we reflect on the development of gifted education in Aotearoa New Zealand, Deb Walker is recognised as a significant advocate, educator and leader whose work helps to expand awareness, capability and community support for gifted learners and those who teach them.

Deb’s involvement in the gifted education field has taken shape across multiple roles that connect families, educators and systems. She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gifted Kids in New Zealand and the New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education (NZCGE) - organisations dedicated to supporting gifted learners and uplifting the broader gifted community. In these roles, she publicly communicated the needs of gifted children, including participating in media conversations to raise awareness of educational gaps and their impact on gifted learners and their families. 

Deb continues to contribute to the field not only through leadership of organisations but also through her involvement in the Massey University Specialist Teaching Programme and in collaborative networks such as GEMS Aotearoa (Gifted Education Mentoring Services) - a strengths-based, equity-focused collective that supports kaiako, school leaders and teachers to better understand and implement high-quality practice for gifted learners. GEMS mentors provide guidance across primary, intermediate, secondary and early years settings, helping educators translate insight into action for students with advanced learning needs.

Her work emphasises the importance of connecting research, professional learning and real-world classroom practice. For example, Deb has collaborated on professional conversations and networks that encourage reflective, responsive practice and grow specialist expertise in gifted education across the sector.

Looking forward, Deb’s legacy to date reminds us that progress in gifted education depends on continual connection, public engagement and shared capacity building. Looking Back to Move Forward invites us to follow her example by strengthening partnerships between families and educators, broadening access to mentoring and professional learning, and keeping the voices of gifted learners and their whānau at the centre of conversations about what effective education should look like.

This Gifted Awareness Week, we honour Deborah Walker’s contribution to a more connected, informed and supportive gifted education community - one that continues to grow in depth and inclusivity because of leaders who help others see what’s possible.