Meet the Team: David Ewen, Language and Literature Teacher

November 4, 2022

Academics

GNS

How long have you been at GNS?

Well technically only two months as a teacher, but last year I was a substitute teacher for three months so in total five months.

What made you want to be part of the GNS community?

I like the fact that it’s a smaller school compared to other schools, so I could definitely feel like a part of the GNS community, and of course, the level of support of other teachers and the attitude of the students made coming to GNS an easy choice.

Why did you want to be a language & literature teacher?

It’s interesting because at university I studied Pacific and Asian studies, and since I was able to speak Japanese at the time, I, like many foreigners, became an English teacher in schools in Japan, teaching local students English as a foreign language.

What would you say is your teaching style or philosophy?

For me, I’m all about getting the students to be curious about what they are studying, I consider them as young adults who could learn independently and develop an appreciation for the knowledge which they acquire. My role is to ensure that I could guide them whenever they have any questions.

What is the best part about being able to work with students?

I think seeing how students start to develop their independent personalities is always intriguing to me and how they can come up with new ideas. That truly makes the teaching experience a lot more fascinating.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

In elementary school, I was on a jump roping demonstration team that went to other schools and taught students how to do jumping ropes of different techniques!

What are some of your interests outside of school?

I enjoy listening to all types of music, cooking and travelling. Recently I’ve also gotten into fly fishing!

What do you like about living and working in Victoria? How does it compare to the other countries you were living in?

I would definitely say the weather is amazing compared to other places in Canada, and that there’s so much more space and nature. As someone who has lived in Japan for quite some time, whenever I come back to Victoria, I just love how spacious Victoria is and how I get the chance to see some beautiful trees and mountains. Finally, the people in Victoria are generally very friendly.

What is your favourite book?

I have a lot of books that I like, but I would say it’s the Master and Margarita written by Mikhail Bulgakov. It’s a satire of Russian oligarchs during the era of the Soviet Union under Stalin and a devil comes to Russia with his cat and seduces a girl, which led to political chaos within the country. It has an amazing story plot and has interesting symbolism.