Tania Jane Lineham (1966 – 11 April 2018) was a New Zealand science teacher and educator who won the 2015 Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize.

Career

Tania Lineham taught science at James Hargest College in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, from 1990. She was awarded a Royal Society of New Zealand Science and Technology Teacher Fellowship in 1999 and the Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize in 2015. She had been a member of th
Southland Science and Technology Fair
Committee since 1991 and chief judge in 2014 and 2015. Lineham co-authored the Year Ten Science Study Guide for New Zealand students.

1999 Royal Society NZ Science and Technology Fellowship

The Royal Society administers these fellowships to enable up to 25 teachers each year to be released from school to participate in programmes with industry and research institutions. Lineham was one of 18 recipients and worked with the Southland Regional Council in their Adopt a Stream Program. The program encouraged schools to adopt a section of stream. Specially developed classroom and field activities and materials increased students' understanding and awareness of river issues. Tania Lineham 2016 full

2015 Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize

Lineham won th
Prime Minister's Science Teacher Prize
in 2015. The New Zealand Government introduced these prizes in 2009 to raise the profile and prestige of science among New Zealanders. The Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize is awarded to "A registered teacher who has been teaching science, mathematics, technology, pūtaiao, hangarau or pāngarau learning areas of the New Zealand curriculum to school-age children in a primary, intermediate or secondary New Zealand registered school." The award was for a number of aspects of Lineham's work: her mentoring of gifted and able students, but also for her efforts to make science valuable and engaging to all students. Her students have excelled in local, national and international science events. In addition she was recognised for her professional development and collegiate sharing.

Teaching philosophy

Lineham believed that students have to be engaged, and to do that, science has to be fun. Explosions and fizzing chemicals are part of the strategy to engage students. She maintained that one of the crucial skills teachers should nurture in 21st century students is the ability to think critically. During a 2015 podcast on Radio NZ Lineham explained that she and her colleagues had developed a science curriculum at James Hargest College to give students tools to make informed decisions, to critically analyse

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

, to be able to identify

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

es on the internet and to be good digital citizens. Lineham spoke at the New Zealand Skeptics Conference in Queenstown in December 2016.

Personal life

Lineham suffered from

primary sclerosing cholangitis Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a long-term progressive disease of the liver and gallbladder characterized by inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts, which normally allow bile to drain from the gallbladder. Affected individuals may ...

, a

chronic disease A chronic condition (also known as chronic disease or chronic illness) is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term ''chronic'' is often applied when the ...

that damages the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

. She received a

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a Liver disease, diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and ...

on Christmas Eve, 1995 in Brisbane, Australia. In rare cases the disease also affects the transplant organ and in 2017, twenty-two years after the first transplant she needed another. Lineham died on 11 April 2018, just three months after her second liver transplant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lineham, Tania 1966 births 2018 deaths New Zealand schoolteachers New Zealand women educators People from Eketāhuna People from Invercargill Liver transplant recipients Deaths from primary sclerosing cholangitis Burials at Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill