Harry Walker was born in Waipiro Bay and was educated at Ngata College in Ruatoria. He studied at Victoria University and graduated with a Diploma in Social Work in 1975. He has worked as a social worker mainly in Wellington. Since 1991 he has been a lecturer in the Social Work Department at Victoria University. In the late 1970s Walker began to write social commentaries in a regular column in Te Awa Iti Communty Newspaper. He has published articles in Te Komako: Social Work Review and had an article on social work field practice placements published in an Arena Publications volume. Walker and Dennis Smith were two of a group of people who introduced the practice of whanau decision making into New Zealand social work in 1986. Walker was part of the group that published Whanau Family Decision Making.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Harry Walker on 8 August 1998.
Non-fiction
- He Whakaaro Ke: A Collection Of Non-Fiction Articles Published In A Collaborative Effort. Vern Winitana, Angela McGregor, Harry Walker and Barnie Pikari. Illust. Robyn Kahukiwa. Wellington, N.Z.: Print Express, [198?].
- A collection of non-fiction articles published in a collaborative effort by four Māori writers and an artist. The publication is a compilation of articles published in the Porirua Community Newspaper, Te Awa-iti. The authors state: ‘As a group we believe that when we agreed upon this collective project to collate our work into this book our ideals were based solely on the chance to write and paint in part about the Māori experience.’
- Whanau Family Decision Making. Lower Hutt, N.Z.: Practitioners Publishing, 1991.
- Co-authored with R. Wilcox, Larry Monu, Maraea Ropata, Denis Smith, Judy Moore, Grant Allan and Adrienne Hewitt. Walker states that ‘this is about social work practice method of families making decisions for the care of their children.’
- "Whanau Hui, Family Decision Making, and the Family Group Conference: An Indigenous Māori View." Protecting Children (American Humane Children’s Division) 12.3 (1996): 8-10.
- The editorial notes accompanying this article state ‘an indigenous New Zealander describes the rationale, nature, and practical application of the family group conference model originated in his home land.’ Not sighted.
Reviews
He Whakaaro Ke
- Tu Tangata 27 (1985/86): 46.