Marie Bell

Marie Bell ( Heron; 19 February 1922 – 3 November 2012) was a New Zealand educationalist, lecturer and teacher who had a career lasting almost three-quarters of a century. Her career was governed by a child-friendly and progressive outlook that she was exposed to at Wellington Teachers' College. Bell was a supervisor and teacher who introduced a child-led education philosophy to allow children to learn in their own development and interests into New Zealand schools. She also worked for various associations, committees, conferences, commissions and educational boards to further early childhood learning.

Early life Bell was born Marie Heron on 19 February 1922 in Wellington, New Zealand. She was the oldest of three children, and she also studied for a arts degree at Victoria University College at the same time. and used a war pension to travel to the United Kingdom by ship in 1949. and undertook a teacher training course. She was a member of the New Zealand Labour Party and held various positions in the Rongotai electorate. At the age of 83, she was the university's oldest graduate in its history.

Bell died in Wellington on 3 November 2012. At the time of her death, she was completing a history of her attempt to bring a liberal educational methodology to Matauranga School.

Personality and legacy Bell was a feminist. According to Elizabeth Cox of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Bell's works over a period of near to three-quarters of a century helped to "she influenced the lives of thousands of teachers, parents and children in New Zealand."