Good Talks: Mr. John Wright

“Future Home — Nunavut” by Dani Lau (Acrylic)
Original in colour.

Since I’m northern bound (heading up to Rankin Inlet, NU), Lucas Wright was thoughtful enough to arrange an informal meeting with his retired father, John Wright, who has been a revered teacher and principal up in Whitehorse for many years.  We had a gem of a conversation.  Mr. Wright said a lot that made an impact on me, and I regret not writing all this all down sooner because some of the details are a bit blurry now.  However, I’ll try to stitch the images in my mind back together.  One of my questions for Mr. Wright was, “How do I respectfully enter the community?”  After telling me that he could only speak for Yukon First Nations,  he then told me about some potlatch protocols.  He said that when an outsider goes to a potlatch, it really touches the community.  “Just go, if you wait for an invitation, you might not ever get one,” he told us.  He strongly suggested staying for the whole thing, right ’til all the story telling and gift-giving happens.  Sometimes he felt embarrassed because he would leave potlatches with his arms full of gifts that little kids gave him — I would too, given my cultural background (I’m not sure if it’s my  Chinese culture or my Canadian one, either).  I don’t know if they do potlatches up in Rankin, but it’s good information nonetheless.  Mr. Wright shared a lot of wisdom with us in those 45 minutes, but there was one story that really struck my heart — partly because of the tenderness with which he told the story, and partly because the story revealed so much about what it is to be a good teacher.  He was walking somewhere when an “oldish” looking guy called out, “Mr. Wright! Mr. Wright!”  After a split second of confusion he realized that this was a former student of his.  At some point, the forty-something-year-old revealed that Mr. Wright was his favourite teacher, so he asked why.  “Because you took me ice fishing,” the man replied.  It wasn’t his fabulous unit on Shakespeare, or his superior teaching skills that this man remembered.  It was that he took him ice fishing.  It’s that personal connection and care that students remember, and that’s the type of thing that will set one teacher apart from the others.  I hope that I can be that kind of teacher, going beyond the curriculum, connecting with and influencing students in an indelible way.  Before I end up writing a tome here, I’ll end this post with some other points that Mr. Wright left with me:

• Don’t lower academic standards for Aboriginal students
  
• Talk to elders whenever, wherever
• Ask for permission for anything you’re not sure about
• Spend at least some of your vacation time with the community

I can’t say how much I appreciated this talk.  I will definitely keep Mr. Wright posted on my career as a teacher.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Good Talks! 🙂