Well, to be honest, I learned how to make white sauce with a wooden spoon. My mum was very traditional in the kitchen. She didn't even own a whisk!
When I had my own kitchen, I had whisks (a couple of different sizes) and they just make life so much easier. I'd never bother going back to the old way of doing it...and I am not intending to teach my kids the old way either.
There are some things about old traditions that just are not better than creating new ones.
