David Smith - Class of 1954
Memory Lane
(As a Student)
Remembering the time when our grade VIII class secretly brought alarm clocks to school and set them off in the middle of Mr. Hume's French class, and recalling that Mr. Hume responded with a wry smile, patience and complete composure!
Working on Saturdays, stamping the price on goods at the A&P on Victoria Avenue, often with Tom Jeary, who was a cheerful, genial, and spirited co-worker.
Listening with admiration to our class teacher, Miss Sylvia Burton, who told me that she hadn't missed a day of school due to illness in her thirty-five years!
Having friendly chats with Janet Carpenter, who sat right behind me in grade XI, and with Stuart Fickett in front, but frequently being gently reprimanded by Miss Burton
and Miss Montgomery.
Playing chess with classmates Taketo Murata and Viesturs Kalnins on the weekends, each of us taking turns to host our mini-tournaments.
With Ronnie Owens and Terry Biel,
measuring exactly a mile down the old Lapinière Road, and running the measured distance in preparation for the school track meet.
Memories as a Member of Staff at CCHS
Bob Wrigley, one of my grade X biology students, brought in a grass snake
and we were all somewhat apprehensive about it. It was kept for a few days in a covered aquarium in my homeroom. After school one day,
Bob was fantastic in teaching me how to overcome my fear of snakes: eventually I had the snake wrapped around my bare arm!
A student told me that during a literature class with Mr. Stan MacDonald,
the snake began to rear its head menacingly through a space between the cover and the aquarium. There were a few moments of nervous excitement. Mr. MacDonald took the book he was reading, boldly stepped over to the aquarium, and clobbered the poor thing which fell back submissively into its temporary home.
One day I went into a class and noticed that,as I walked down each aisle to check science homework, every student looked down and stared at my shoes. Sensing that this had all been pre-planned, and without a word, I went to the front of the room and stood on a chair, and said to the class,
"Now I want all of you to have a really good look at my shoes!"
A small group of especially enthusiastic chemistry students, including Ricky Overall and Linda Blais, asked me to give them some enrichment experiences in the Chemistry Lab. So I arranged for them to be at the school on a few Saturday afternoons for a series of challenges. In one I asked them to identify a mysterious (harmless) white powder. They spent a couple of hours putting the substance through various chemical tests, and successfully discovered that it was calcium carbonate!
David was born in Brighton, Sussex, England on June 3, 1935, the son of Charles and Joan Smith. As Brighton was a seaside town and a possible point of invasion during World War II, David and his brother and sister were evacuated inland twice. The unsettled life of the war and post-war period resulted in his attending seven different primary schools in nine years.
He came to Canada with an aunt at the end of 1949 originally for one year as an adventure, but intent on completing secondary education at the old Chambly County High School, and with the permission of his parents, he decided to continue and graduated in 1954.
David wanted to enter the RCMP, but did not quite make the minimum height of 5 ft 9ins. His second ambition was to become a pilot, but he wore glasses for seeing distance which disqualified him. So he took up his third choice – teaching – entering the B.Ed. program at McGill, and graduating with Great Distinction and the Lieutenant Governor's Gold Medal in 1958.
That year he was lured back to Chambly County High School, now in the new building, by Principal Earl Templeton, his former trigonometry teacher, to teach Algebra, Chemistry and Biology. David organized a chess club and also assisted Ian Hume in coaching track and field. In the meantime, he earned his M.A. degree.
In 1961, he was recruited by McGill to become a Lecturer in Mathematics and Educational Psychology in the Institute of Education of the Faculty of Arts and Science. At the same time, he had become interested in the work of the United Nations and was appointed the Director of the first Bilingual Seminar on the United Nations for Quebec High School Students.
David left McGill in 1963 to study International and Comparative Education at the University of London. He undertook research into Education for World Understanding in the secondary schools of England and Wales, and graduated with a Ph.D. in 1966.
He returned to McGill that year and was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Science Education. David's research and writing focused on teaching history for international understanding and on peace education. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1968 and to Full Professor in 1974.
In addition to his teaching, David increasingly took on administrative responsibilities. He was Chair of the Department of Education in Social Science (1971-74), Director of Graduate Studies (1979-81), Associate Dean , Academic Affairs, (1981-1983) and Dean of the Faculty of Education (1983-1991).
During the period of his deanship, the Faculty expanded its programs beyond teacher education to include such areas as Business and Industrial Training, Adult Education, Educational Computing, and First Nations Education. The dimensions of multiculturalism and equity in education were newly infused into Faculty programs. Research grants to members of the Faculty trebled, and there was a substantial increase in scholarly output.
David was active in many educational circles in Quebec and Canada. He was a member of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Council of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities, a member of the Higher Education Commission of the Superior Council of Education and an executive member of the Canadian Association of Deans of Education. He was made a Fellow of the Canadian College of Teachers in 1982 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1991.
During the course of his career, David authored or co-authored a total of ten books as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals. His publications include Changing Values: the Human Impact of Urbanization (Bellhaven House, 1970), Canada: Discovering Our Heritage (Ginn, 1977), Canada and the United States (Ginn, 1982), and Educating for a Peaceful Future (Kagan and Woo, 1998). When David retired from McGill in 2001, the University conferred upon him the rank of Professor Emeritus.
David is married to Cecile Jayme and lives in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec. He has three children, Alexander, Mark and Karen. Now, in retirement, he continues to write and does some woodworking as a hobby. He and Cecile both enjoy organic gardening, hiking, cycling and travelling.
On holiday in Britain in September, 2008, David and Cecile having refreshments with Philip and Marian (brother and sister-in-law) at a Sussex pub.
In May, 1985,
Together with the Japanese Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai, and in cooperation with Unesco, David organized an international children's art exhibit at McGill in May, 1989, its theme, “The World I Love”. At the opening of the exhibit he was interviewed by Brian Britt of CFCF TV. After Montreal, the exhibit travelled to other major cities in Europe and Asia.
While he was Dean of the Faculty of Education, David travelled annually to the Arctic for the graduation of students in the Northern Education program. Here, in Iqaluit, in 1991, he congratulates Martha Kayak, a student from Pond Inlet, who has received the B.Ed. degree.
From 1991-1994, David administered a $500,000.00 CIDA project to improve the teaching of English as a second language in the secondary schools of Costa Rica. Here he is with Virginia Roja, the Minister of Education (right) on a tour to the edge of the smoking crater of the Irazu Volcano. In the middle are Dr. Carolyn Turner and Cecile (David's wife, who helped the Minister understand his imperfect Spanish!).
David and co-author Terry Carson of the University of Alberta, launch their book, Educating for a Peaceful Future, at the McGill Bookstore, October, 1998.
In April, 1999, David was the keynote speaker at a United Nations conferenceat East Stroudsburg University, Pennsylvania. David is pictured with Cecile (his wife), University President Robert Dillman, and representatives from the U.N., New York.
David was invited by the Minister of Education of Shandong Province to lead a McGill delegation to visit schools and universities in China. Here he is welcomed by the Principal to the Ging Wu Road Primary School in Jinan.
