Chris Murphy

Leadership Consultant

Chris Murphy is a Leadership Advisor, working with beginning principals across the Canterbury and Otago regions.

Chris joined the Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga team after an education career that has taken him across the country and included stints in both the primary and secondary sectors, urban and rural locations, special character and state schools, as well as contributing and full primary schools. Most recently, Chris has served as the Principal of Methven Primary School for the past 8 years.

Chris knows that, in education, continual improvement based upon best evidence and best practise is what our communities deserve. Much of Chris’ Masters was centred around developing 21st Century curriculum in schools and then working to bring the wider communities on board with changes that can confront their traditional view of education.

Chris was made a Woolf Fisher Fellow in 2018 and used his time abroad to investigate how other education systems were working to develop 21st CLD. This experience left Chris assured that the New Zealand education system is, indeed, ahead of the curve, but that we also have a lot of work to do with regards to our cultural responsiveness and reducing the levels of disparity within our system.

Chris lives in the idyllic Mid Canterbury foothills village of Mount Somers with his wife, Jo and their four growing boys. Growing up in Dunedin, he remains a Highlanders supporter.