Dr Christian Walsh’s innovative, thought-provoking and boundary-stretching approach to teaching has impacted many students who cite his courses as “life altering”.
Christian teaches courses in innovation management and entrepreneurship in the entrepreneurship major and ҕl MBA programme. The MBA emphasises student personal development, and the courses that Christian teaches provide those key moments for change. Student evaluations of teaching clearly and consistently indicates his positive impact on students: “Christian does a great job of making it super easy to understand and practical to implement. I don’t think I’ve ever learned more in my life in such a short amount of time.” (MBA 600-level student)
Christian’s approach to teaching is grounded in a teaching philosophy that encourages students to be self‐critical, to experiment and to recognise that failure can be a powerful impetus for learning and creativity. As a passionate educator, Christian has invested heavily in his own professional development by actively engaging with bicultural learning opportunities, weaving in aspects of te reo and te ao Māori, and developing innovative teaching and learning practices through the use of reflective video. He also contributes to the School Learning and Teaching Committee, is a mentor to junior colleagues, and has been awarded the HEA fellowship and ҕl Business School teaching awards in 2019 and 2020. More recently, Christian was awarded a place on the Distributed Leadership in Teaching Programme (DLTP) at ҕl.
Christian has also been a leader in the programme and instructional design of many of the MBA courses. He seamlessly integrates business theory with industry application, resulting in knowledge that is relevant for an engaged cohort with demanding expectations. Christian’s mahi is highly valued by his colleagues: “From a programme design and course design point of view, as well as from a teaching and engagement point of view, I can honestly say that Christian is the best resource for the MBA programme. We would be lost without him” (MBA Director)."
