Ka pai Kerry!

Principal Nursing Lecturer, Kerry Davis, has won a highly respected 2024 Ako Aotearoa Te Kaiako Ngātahi o te Tau a Te Pirimia I Prime Minister’s Joint Educator of the Year Award. 

The Te Whatu Kairangi Awards celebrate outstanding tertiary educators who are making a difference to learners, their whānau and communities. These awards have grown to be the most well-recognised and respected tertiary education awards in New Zealand. 

Kerry shares the top award with Hiria Tumoana, a Senior Lecturer for Te Ūranga Waka at Eastern Institute of Technology. Kerry also won a Te Whatu Kairangi General Award, in the Innovation in learning, teaching and curriculum category. 

“Both Hiria and Kerry exemplify the highest standards in tertiary education. Their work, grounded in cultural respect, innovation, and a deep commitment to student success, inspires learners, colleagues, and communities alike,” says Te Whatu Kairangi Selection Panel Chair, Derek McCormack. 

Kerry’s teaching has transformed nursing education over the past 30 years through her innovative, student-centred approach. She is passionate about making learning engaging, using narrative, poetry, and real-life simulations to bring theoretical content to life. She is dedicated to removing barriers to student success and incorporating Tikanga Māori into her curriculum. 

Her commitment to excellence was recognised in 2022 with the Otago Polytechnic Students’ Association Teaching Excellence Award. In 2023, she contributed to Otago Polytechnic’s reaccreditation for the Rainbow Tick, underscoring her dedication to inclusivity. 

“Being given this award alongside Hiria Tumoana is both humbling and surreal,” says Kerry. 

“For me, these awards reflect the importance of mahi in the development of our future nursing workforce as reflective and empathetic nurses. 

“In the senior person’s health course, I feel privileged to lead a small team who prepare nursing students as empathetic clinicians with advanced problem-solving skills, ahead of clinical placement in aged residential care. 
“This work is collaborative, alongside clinical partners and experts in this area, working together to foster enthusiastic and capable nurses.”

Otago Polytechnic received three of the eleven available Te Whatu Kairangi Awards in 2024.

In addition to Kerry’s achievements, Associate Professor Kelli Te Maihāroa won the Kaupapa Māori category award, and Principal Lecturer Dr Claire Goode received the Progressing education and partnerships and collaboration category award. 

All three awardees were presented with their awards at a special ceremony at Parliament on Monday 4 November. Hon Penny Simmonds, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills presented the awards. 

Huge congratulations to Kerry, Kelli, and Claire!