Portland Observar October 4,1979 Pago 3
'Looking for Ms. Wheeler” :
An instructional model for teachers
By Gregory L. Gudger
The succession o f Gudger Brothers
who attended D .C .’ s Shaw Junior
High School were ‘turned on’ by Ms.
Wheeler. In fact, the majority o f our
peers who had the pleasure o f atten­
ding her 7th grade English classes--
whether they were scheduled to or
not suffered the same adolescently-
amorous a fflic tio n . A ll the male
teachers who sought her attention
had advanced cases o f the same.
Physically, she was a strikingly
voluptuous brown-skinned woman
whose carriage reflected both dignity
and the restrictiveness o f skin-tight
dresses. On her head, she wore a red-
tinted wig that fooled no one (the
‘ afro’ didn’t exist in ’63), and nearly
matched her heavily-rouged checks
and painted lips.
Not only was she ‘ fine’ , but Ruth
Wheeler’ s reputation as a teacher
was well documented; punctuated by
waiting lists o f ‘ transfer-vultures’ ,
hoping for dropouts which were so
sadly common in low-income, inner-
city schools.
and the laughter peaked, lead by my
own guffaw. "B-BI-Blueju--Blueju-
who-who-ha ha ha.” I coupled my
laughter with wide-eyed antics that
I ’d picked up from somewhere out­
side o f my real world.
’ ’GUDGER!”
The unmistakable voice rang in my
ears like a shot, mortally wounding
all humor; the alacrity o f her tone
froze my antics. A murmur: "U h
oh.”
‘ ‘ What's-so-yuriny?’ ’ she asked,
punctuating each word. A ll eyes in
the class were on me; hallway
nomads gathered at the open door,
" I told you that was Ms. Wheeler,”
one whispers, ” oooo-wee, that
dude’s in trouble!”
“ Yes, I said Block man” she said,
weaving through a maze o f faces—
some snickering-toward my desk,
“ ...and I don't see anything funny
about that.”
" Y o u ’re Black...and Blacker than
everybody in here at that, ” she em­
phasized, eliciting a chuckle that
immediately dashed for cover once
skewed.
...she could talk at length about each of her stu­
dents-past and present-high lighting both assests
and shortcomings while recommending a specific
strategy for academic success.
Speaking w ith a p a rtia lly-co n ­
trolled lisp, accenting her word en­
dings, Ms. Wheeler conveyed fo r­
mality and competence; on the other
hand, she could ‘ break it down’ to
you if necessary, having proven on
occasion that she could wrap a ‘ bad’
kid up in the ‘ word-games’ ghetto
children play as i f she taught
‘ jo in in g ’ too.
And nobody
threatened her: that would bring
every male teacher in the building
down on your behind...and these big
black men did not play around when
it came to discipline.
Parents liked Ms. Wheeler also,
because she could talk at length
about each o f her students-past and
present-high lighting both assests
and shortcomings while recommen­
ding a specific strategy for academic
success. She would always compare
me favorably with my two brothers
whom she had also taught. “ He’ s a
loud little th ing , and he is too
talkative...but he’ s a good student,”
she’d say, not totally revealing the
full extent o f my wrongdoing. 1 think
every kid ‘owed her one' on that.
However, 1 must confess (17 years
later, and 3,(XX) miles farther from
my mother’ s wrath) that I made Ms.
Wheeler angrier than any student
had ever done.
My day o f reckoning was a cold
one -like most are during Capitol
City winters-and the classroom was
buzzing in Ms. Wheeler’ s absence
just before the final bell fo r the
beginning o f the period rung. We
were still talking about the morning
‘ shakedown’ - a periodic ‘ safety
precaution' employed by the school
adm inistration which entailed the
fris k in g o f each student before
he/she entered the building, to stem
the How o f knives, box-cutters, ‘ little
sluggers’ and zipguns into Shaw
Junior High. (Footnote: this school
was w ell-know n as one o f the
toughest in the City-even the East
Coast. Shaw posed such a discipline
problem, it is said, that the United
Stales Congress passed an austere
school disciplinary program and ap­
tly named it ‘ the Shaw Plan.'
Just as somebody was finishing the
report o f how one ‘ Jolly Joe,’ had
taken some dude’ s place in line by
literally beating the sn—, well, the
congestion out o f him, Ms. Wheeler
strode in at the bell and commanded
our attention.
“ Let us turn to page 210 in the
te x t,” she said, lisping sligh tly.
"A n d would someone describe what
they see in the picture, there?” The
drawing depicted a setting in 17th
century Ita ly , scene o f the
Shakespearean work we were to have
already read. Hands raised, followed
by brief descriptions o f the market­
place, the crowds, the buildings,
merchants, et cetera.
"D id you notice the Black man
here in the co rn e r,” she asked,
holding up her book in front o f the
class, pointing to the rather well-
dressed dark gentleman .
The entire class rumbled with sub­
dued laughter; this was 1963, and
the word 'B lack' was used as an
epithet by the ignorant and the
racist.
Ms. Wheeler, a n ticip a tin g our
reaction, waited q u ie tly fo r the
giggling and chuckling to subside.
Someone mumbled “ B luejuice,”
“ I ’ ll te ll you w h a t...I’ ve got
something funny for you, Gudger...I
want you to bring me a seven-page
book report-tom orrow -on a Black
man named Hannibal, " she charged.
“ Now, I ’ m not going to tell you
anything else but his name—
H a n n ib a l,” and you’ d better be
ready first thing tomorrow to tell us
a ll about this Black man named
Hannibal, and if you don't I will
FLUNK you...you hear me?” I nod­
ded meekly. "Y o u might as well not
come back to my class again if you
don’ t, DO YOU U N D E R S TAN D
ME?”
"Yes ma’am,” I muttered, while
struggling to keep the tell-tale gloss
o f welling tears under control.
We d id n ’ t discuss Shakespeare
proper at all that day; Ms. Wheeler
told us o f Black people who lived
before, during, and after him. She
spoke o f status, occupations, con­
tributions and just basic existence o f
a people I took for granted, like
failing to see the forest for the trees.
Finally, she talked about us--Black
children-and how we should be very
proud to be called Black. Like it or
not, we were.
At the end o f the period, as I
tried to slip quietly out the door, I
turned to find Ms. Wheeler’ s eyes,
w ith w arm th —not fir e - fix e d on
mine. I thought I saw her nod
slightly, with a smile.
Now, having learned to appreciate
my mother’ s distaste for academic
fa ilu re —and the encumbrances it
could b rin g -I tore into my World
Book Encyclopedias loo king fo r
Hannibal. Mom asked me why I was
so enthusiastic about wanting to find
out more (enough for seven pages)
on this most celebrated A fric a n
military tactician and ruler o f Car­
thage (247-183 B.C.).
"O h..uh, this is a special project
that Ms. Wheeler picked me to
do...out o f all the other students.”
Whew, close.
Once completed, I took a certain
pleasure in rep orting to my
classmates that " V ic to r M ature
should not have played Hannibal in
the movie.” Though somewhat o f an
unorthodox approach, it brought a
smile from Ms. Wheeler, which I in­
terpreted as a sign of forgiveness for
my previous display o f ignorance. It
was okay to have a crush on her
again-and a snowball’s chance-like
my current peers, and my brothers
before me.
1977, a list o f 26 descriptors o f a
q u a lity education included the
following criteria, all o f which are
reflected in the story:
(1) A curriculum which fosters
knowledge and understanding o f
various cultural groups in America
and the world.
(2) A cu rricu lm that provides
diverse teaching strategies geared
toward individual learning styles and
sets...,
(3) A curriculum climate which en­
courages students to develop habits
and skills o f logic, questioning, and
analysis,
(4) Total school effort which un­
dergirds and utilizes the considerable
strength o f the Black family.
(5) Helping students achieve a
positive self-image and understan­
ding o f self, plus a knowledge o f the
environment within which s/he must
live; a self-view and world view from
cultural , historical, physical and
aesthetic perspectives,
(6) Fostering an atmosphere that
excludes concepts that destroy, de­
humanize, and attempt to attach a
badge o f inferiority...,
(7) Staffing (and governance) pat­
terns at each school level...which
reflect the make-up o f the to ta l
school population so that all children
can have appropriate role models.
Outside o f the textbook, which in­
cluded a non-negative c u ltu ra l
reference within the context o f the
general subject matter, these con­
ditions could either be attributed to,
or existed as a function of, Ruth
Wheeler’s view o f herself as a Black
teacher. W ith o u t question, Ms.
Wheeler had einbraeed-som e 14
years earlier than this report—the
assertion in the NAACP report that
“ a quality education...is one which
does not ignore the fundamental
reality o f culture, and which honors
that reality in the construction o f
educational experiences...” indeed
she recognized the role o f the teacher
as both an educator and socialization
agent.
The Ruth Wheelers o f the world,
rare as they are, should serve as
models from which to design m ulti­
c u ltu ra l, m u lti-e th n ic education
models for those who teach Black
students.
The NAACP Report recommends
(and Ms. Wheeler seemed to embrace
and encompass) that course content
in teacher education.
- must not o nly prepare an
educator to convey knowledge o f the
curriculum, but also equip teachers
to transm it m u ltic u ltu ra l/m u lti-
ethnbic knowledge within the scope
o f the curriculum.
- should include meaningful field
experiences to encompass knowledge
o f communities from which students
come, and to work with parents and
community volunteers.
- should enhance skills in
facilitating non-stressful transition
o f students from one educational set­
ting to another, whether from one
city system to another or from a
‘ racially isolated' setting to a more
heterogenous one.
- must develop skills and sen­
sitivities in group dynamics as well as
the em otional and psychological
needs o f minority students.
- should include (he role o f adult
modeling in the context o f learning
theory.
- must encompass the study o f
philosophies o f education and
cultural pluralism ; the history o f
education and the role o f minorities
as both producers and consumers.
- must include training in the use
and misuse o f tests.
- must include training to avoid
equating poverty w ith lim ited
educational capacity.
- must include tra in in g to
recognize s k ill and competency
‘ tra n s fu n c tio n a b ility ’ to in fo rm
"...a quality education...is one which does
not ignore the fundemental reality of culture, and
which honors that reality in the construction of
educational experiences..."
The Ruth Wheelers o f the world
are a special breed o f teacher to
which other Black teachers, and
white instructors, should look to as
models. In fact, the retrospective
scenario presented above alludes to
some o f the requisite characteristics
for providing quality education, not
only to Black students in inner-city
schools, but all children...anywhere
in this country.
A ccording to the “ N A A C P
Report on Q uality Education fo r
Black Americans: An Imperative,”
published by the N AACP Special
C o n trib u tio n Fund in September
requires teachers to demonstrate a
knowledge o f Civil Rights laws and
their underlying philosophy as a
c o n d itio n fo r c e rtific a tio n —is a
progressive step toward enhancing
the sensitivity o f the state’s teachers
toward Black students.
A ll education, tra in in g , and
legislation notwithstanding, the key
ingredients necessary fo r q ua lity
education are those (hat the in ­
dividual teacher brings to the job.
The kinds o f people needed for a
quality education must like children;
be fair; have physical and mental
stamina; have basic intellectual com­
petence, and especially, be commit­
ted and dedicated to education.
Given all the educational influen­
ces and personal characteristics men­
tioned above as my oils, I could
easily paint a portrait o f a volup­
tuous Black woman in a tight dress
and red ‘ fried’ wig, who commanded
the respect o f a long line o f
adolescent roughnecks lik e few
teachers (people) do,
/
x\'
/J
(Editors Note: Gregory L. Gudger is
Chairman o f the N A A C P Press and
P u blicity Committee. This article
appears in the P o rtla n d Branch
N A A C P newsletter, “ Go Tell I t . . . ” ,
October, 1979.)
GREGORY L. GUDGER
th e Moms Marks House
1501 5W Harrison Street
Portland 97201
te lephone 227 2 6 8 8
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students o f many vocational ap­
plications o f knowledge attained in
any particular course o f study.
Such a ‘ Wheeler’ model should
provide the preservice or the inser­
vice educator an o p p o rtu n ity to
know a n d /o r experience the
‘ meaning’ of being Black. “ Simply
stated,” reads the rep ort, “ the
teacher must be able to sense and/or
feel the nuances o f being a member
o f another group in the affective, as
well as the cognitive, domain.”
The passage o f HB 2360 by the
1977 Oregon Legislature—which
I