UBC alumni teacher of the year David Beare wanted to share the spotlight with his drama students.
The longtime Handsworth Secondary drama teacher requested he receive the prestigious award surrounded by his students – past and present.
Those students, their parents and fellow Handsworth teachers all together put Beare’s name forward for the honour, consistently describing him as compassionate, inspiring, welcoming and empowering as an educator. The alumni teacher award, delivered through UBC’s faculty of education, recognizes those who are making exceptional impacts in the lives of their students and learning communities.
On April 13, to the delight of Beare’s biggest fans, the beloved teacher was awarded with a plaque and a bouquet in the auditorium at Centennial Theatre. But it was not the final act that evening.
Beare put down the plaque and composed himself. More than 200 Handsworth drama, dance and tech students had been for months preparing for the spring show, under Beare’s direction.
He has taught drama at Handsworth since 1996, using an approach that connects social justice issues with giving a voice to young people. Equality takes a central theme in the original scripts created by an in-house writing team at Handsworth.
A two-hander would be too easy. It’s a 200-hander (or around there) that Beare aims for, so he can willingly direct a large number of students.
“That is what my research (at UBC) is in,” says Beare, who is examining social and emotional aspects of learning in large groups. “I call it a social art – in that the whole thing is just one giant social art.”
This year’s Handsworth production, Blackout, explored a mixed-race wedding between a family from Russia and one from Iran. As usual, the show was filled with dramatic and comedic storytelling fused with well-choreographed, original song and dance numbers.
Some of the script was written in Farsi, which Beare says recognizes the North Shore’s large Iranian community. Amongst the dialogue and dancing was also a space to let male actors cry, he adds.
Students who sign up for theatre, tech or dance classes at Handsworth are also signing up to be part of a mass production that is an annual tradition at the school. Ten classes in all were involved in this latest show – along with 65 parent volunteers.
“It’s a true ensemble,” says Beare.
Inside the walls of the high school Beare has found mentors in fellow teachers Carole Mayrand and Tracey Lloyd, who have taught him about dance and storytelling.
This is Beare’s 19th year in a row putting on a large production with the students and teachers. And while Beare has collected so many wonderful memories seeing his students on stage, he says it’s what happens behind the scenes that’s most important in his mind.
Through all the pageantry, the students take on leadership roles. While the lights of Broadway might be what some of these budding thespians are aiming for, as Beare explains, many of them have gone on to be leaders in a wide variety of fields, not just theatre.
“Our job isn’t necessarily to produce actors, it’s more to produce ideal citizens of the world,” he says.
Beare’s path to teaching started in the late 1980s, when he directed theatre for youth. Majoring in drama and education in university, Beare upgraded his training over the years and earned a doctorate from UBC’s faculty of education in 2012.
These days he’s back in class as a sessional lecturer at UBC and mentoring teacher candidates in the theatre education program. Teaching these future educators to trust the process through the obstacles and setbacks serves as the foundation for his mentorship.
“That struggle is not necessarily a bad thing – it’s just something you have to sit with,” says Beare.
How do you share power? That’s another topic Beare tackles with the new teachers.
“It’s that balance between I and we,” he says. “It can’t be one or the other – you have to be both.”
