Our friend and colleague Keith Walker, who has died of cancer aged 67, was an art teacher, university lecturer and exam-board administrator. In the course of his professional life – through his practice, his written papers, and his cogent educational philosophy – he made an extraordinary and far-reaching contribution to thousands of students and teachers, and to art education nationally.
Keith was born in Ulverston, Cumbria (but then part of Lancashire), the only child of Frank, who ran a mobile Co-op shop in the local area, and Margaret (nee Baines). After the family moved to Manchester he was educated at Urmston grammar school, a link that he valued for the rest of his life.
Following BA and MA courses at the University of Birmingham, he moved back to the north and a career teaching art in Bury and Salford. In 1985 Keith worked as gallery education officer at Drumcroon Art Education Centre, a groundbreaking institution for practice in art and design education. Supported by Wigan local education authority, the Drumcroon centre brought together school and college students, teachers and artists in collaborative projects, residencies and exhibitions.
Keith was instrumental in pioneering gallery-based art education for primary and secondary students, initially in Wigan and ultimately on a national scale. His initiatives still underpin much of the good classroom practice and principles of assessment in art and design. Keith then went on to work at Manchester Met University as course leader and senior lecturer on the PGCE and MA art teacher training courses.
In addition to his role as tutor and lecturer, he worked for the Northern Examinations and Assessment Board, which later, after its amalgamation with the Southern Examining Group, became the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA). At the outset of the national curriculum he was instrumental in drawing up the national criteria and assessment objectives for GCSE art and design. He subsequently played a leading role in guiding the development of all AQA art and design GCSE specifications.
Keith was unstintingly passionate about art education – and his colleagues at AQA were always confident that his principles of fairness and equal opportunity were embedded in his judgment and decisions.
He was a member of the Labour party and a proud Manchester City season ticket holder. Keith is survived by his wife, Sheila, whom he married in 1970. A son, Iain, predeceased him.
