Mme. Clare Turner: A Teacher, Mentor, and Lifelong Learner

The GNS community is sad to say goodbye to Mme. Clare Turner, who retired in December after almost 18 years of teaching at GNS. Clare joined GNS for the first time from 1993 to 2001 teaching German and French. 

Clare was part of the faculty team that helped introduce the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP) to the school, and in 2016 she returned, bringing her two sons Ian and Alistair soon afterwards. A staple of the GNS community, Mme. Turner will be remembered as a fair, kind and understanding teacher who always shared her love of languages with her students.

Languages were always a major love of Clare’s, thanks to great teachers during her school years growing up in England. “I was inspired by wonderful teachers and the majority of them were not native speakers of French or German. They’d all gone through the growing pains of learning those languages and I felt that that is a significant thing to offer students, whatever their mother tongue is, that you can relate to how they’re trying to learn the language. I hope that I’ve inspired them too, because languages have always been my passion.”

She was lucky to have lots of opportunities to travel across Europe to improve her skills and grow her love of French and German, including when “a young girl named Elke Höfer came to my school in grade 10 from Germany to live in England, and she and I became best friends. We are still best friends to this day. And so in her house, I spoke exclusively German.”

After a year working in banking and learning it was not for her, Clare went back to school to pursue a Masters degree at the University of Alberta. The opportunity there to teach undergraduate German as a teaching assistant changed her life “That’s it. This is what I want to do!”, leading her to get her education postgraduate certificate at Oxford University. 

Some of her most memorable moments have involved the IB DP, especially seeing the huge growth in her students over the two years in the program. At times, her students would start with grades of 2s and 3s, but progress to graduating with very respectable 4s and 5s. “Those moments are just sky high, you both feel a huge accomplishment.”

The evolution of technology and its impact on education has been especially present for Clare’s career, and she reflects on the implementation of the Language Lab early in her time at GNS all the way up to the AI presence felt now. She notes how technology has opened so many doors for her students, “What’s great is you can do such wonderful virtual tours in places that you’re not going to be able to get to with your students. You can get native speakers from every corner of the world with every accent and every bit of culture.”

Clare says that she had some wonderful mentors when she started teaching and has strived to give back and guide teachers new to the profession and the school in their careers. She was a big part of creating the mentoring program and has worked with all of the newer French teachers here at GNS. The wonderful GNS community “has been very much an intrinsic part of my life and my sons’ lives” and will certainly be missed.

Mme. Turner’s classes raved about how lucky they were to have her supportive teaching, and what a kind heart she has. Students note that it is evident that she truly loves teaching and giving back to others. Mme. Angie Girard (who became Clare’s dearest friend from the time they first met at GNS in 1993) also shares that Mme. Turner’s “unwavering support of her students over the years is undeniable. No matter what their proficiency in the language, Clare has always met students where they are, and supported them to do their best, through truth and courage”. 

As Clare heads into quieter days in retirement, she plans to “find a balance in my new adventure, but change is always a little bit scary!” She plans to stay connected with the GNS community by assisting with IB Exams in May and TOCing on occasion, as well as becoming an academic supervisor for The University of Victoria to mentor student-teachers during their practicums. Clare looks forward to spending lots of time outside in this “gorgeous, gorgeous place we live,” and nurturing her many other talents including gardening, reading, crafting and baking. 

As well, Mme. Turner wants to remind everyone that learning a new language is always possible, “I always compare it to learning a musical instrument. If you put it down for a while, it’ll get a bit rusty, but then you can pick it back up again!”