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A leading researcher and educator in the field of bioethics, Deborah is a consultant in secondary school and public bioethics education. Deborah designs and delivers professional development seminars for teachers across New Zealand, Australia and Asia. Author of New Zealand’s first stand-alone bioethics curriculum, Deborah provides expert advice on implementing the values and key competency/capability aspects of the New Zealand and Australian curricula.
Deborah’s knowledge of the impact of contemporary culture on citizens’ values development, decision making, behaviour and wellbeing is grounded in her background in science, psychology, education and public medicine. Her research shows that bioethics education provides an effective forum for students to critique the origin and structure of their personal worldview and to understand the worldviews of others.
Deborah’s latest educational initiative is a national Bioethics Roadshow for secondary schools in which students are encouraged to critically engage with bioethical issues through short live dramas and follow up interactive teaching and learning sessions, including THE bioethX FACTOR, The Soap Box and the Bioethics court.
Deborah is also in high demand as a conference presenter. An engaging story-teller, Deborah uses authentic cases to explore contemporary bioethical issues and the variety of ethical perspectives that members of a diverse society may apply to them.
