The Whitfields vs the Dixons
By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
IF you know anything about the above (The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem, in trochaic tetrameter, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, featuring an Indian hero), then you might also have known the late Miss Dorothy Whitfield, the first headmistress at St Hugh’s Preparatory School, a beloved icon and educator who died many years ago.
Miss Whitfield would come to your classroom and read sections of Longfellow’s lengthy work (22 chapters) and your young ears would listen to her soft voice and pay rapt attention to the adventures of Hiawatha and his lady love Minehaha.
If you were really paying attention you could even recite some of the stanzas for yourself, and if you misbehaved just enough, Miss Whitfield would make you perform some of the poetry if only to distract you from your errant ways.
And in absorbing these readings — was there ever a day that she was not in your classroom? — you learned about love, and war, and loss and death. For The Song of Hiawatha is about a series of encounters and contests that enable Hiawatha to bring progress and blessings to his tribe and which help create peace among the other tribes. By virtue of his heroic adventures and conquests, Hiawatha served as prophet, teacher, and peacemaker.
It wouldn’t be until many years later that you would appreciate the poem for what it really was: the reform of a noble savage, the victory of good versus evil, the beauty of faith, the miracle of language and the lasting benefits of peace. And in listening to the poem you also learned how to communicate colourfully and effectively through polite language: never having to demean or abuse or use language in a round-about way that was intended to disrespect anyone. That one eternally long poem about Hiawatha turned out to be an incredible life lesson.
The point here is that there was a time that we looked to our educators to be of the Dorothy Whitfield type: known for her kindness, great tact, energy and steely loyalty to her school. And through her gentleness and firmness she presented these same ideals as those which her children should strive for all of their lives.
Dorothy Whitfield, even if she didn’t care for the gentleman, would never have let the words “mongrel dog” slip through her lips in reference to a battle with the education minister over the teachers’ entitlements issue, and she would never have dipped so low as to suggest that he may have been injected with cocaine.
Miss Whitfield would have been conscious of the effect of the use of offensive language and the damage that it would cause the integrity of the teaching profession and the impressionable young minds that these teachers held in their hands. She would have referred to the Jamaica Teachers’ Association Code (JTA) of Ethics which states clearly that:
‘The teacher recognises the magnitude of the responsibility inherent in the teaching process. The necessity to earn the respect and confidence of one’s colleagues, students, parents and the members of the community provide the incentive to attain and maintain the highest possible degree of ethical conduct.’
Miss Whitfield would have remembered two distinct principles in the Code of Ethics: (1) that the teacher speaks to and acts towards pupils in a respectful and dignified manner and (2) that the teacher does not undermine the position, status or influence of any colleague.
If “educator” and former JTA President Doran Dixon, now that he has been reinstated, is elected at the upcoming JTA presidential election later on this month, then the entire face of the teaching profession changes. Hiawatha may no longer have a place in the classroom; kass-kass, bullying and mayhem will be the order of the day. I wonder what about the post is so desirable that Mr Dixon would stop at no less than derogatory behaviour to achieve the position.
