Calvin Rife
teaches life
. and school
by CAROL ANDERSON
Nebraskan Staff WrTTtr
"I didn't really expect any
trouble from the kids, and I
haven't had any," said Calvin
Rife. "Outside of a few amus
ing incidents involving some
curious children, nothing much
has happened."
Rife is currently student
teaching at Ruth Pyrtle
Elemnetary School in Lincoln's
fashionable Wedgewood Manor.
But being the only black person
in the upper middle-class
school has presented no
particular problems.
"One boy asked me
if I was an athlete, and he
seemed disappointed when I
said I wasn't," Rife said. It's
good for blacks who don't carry
a football or bounce a basket
ball to interact with whites to
destroy the stereotype ; tiat
"because you're black you
must be better at athletics," he
added.
On another occasion, Rife
was concerned about a little
girl who seldom spoke up in
class. Even when asked, she
was reluctant to talk.
"I never seemed to be able to
get a response from her," Rife
said, "But one day after class
she turned and said simply,
'you're nice.' What more could
I ask?"
Young students are often
unexposed to minority people
so it's easy for faulty
stereotypes to be formed, Rife
said.
"Having me for a teacher
exposes the kids to somebody
who looks a little different, but
who treats them with respect,"
he continued.
Rife emphasized that he Is
trying, as an educator and as a
human being, to help his
students to grow and develop.
He wants to make a difference
in somebody's life, and that's
why he's teaching Kin
dergarten. "I feel I'm accomplishing
something," Rue said of his
seven weeks at the school. "It's
just something you sense. A lot
of good teaching goes on that
way."
Rife said that young kids who
aren't exposed to diverse
elements of society "miss out
on something." For Instance,
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black kids lose by going to
school with all black kids," he
said.
Besides being exposed to
black teachers, Rife said young
students ought to be exposed to
more men teachers.
"It's not that there are too
many white teachers, or too
many women teachers," he
said. "I'd just like to see more
men and more black teachers
on the elementary level."
Rife said his teaching
training at the University was
Photos by Barb Peter
generally good, but elementary
education courses should be
expanded in several areas. He
would like to see more courses
on how to teach other than
middle class children.
"One of the main weaknesses
of any teacher, black or white,
who is going out into society
today is a lack of understan
ding of themselves," he said.
"This can lead to a lack of
understanding and considera
tion of the children they are
working with."
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THURSDAY, MARCH 26 1970
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
PAGE 3
