Kim Worthy's Lecture

I enjoyed Kim Worthy’s lecture on practices of freedom and justice. I believe the three main points were the definition of freedom, the LEAP school, and how to teach culturally relevant teaching. I enjoyed this lecture; however, I disagreed with other things she said. For example, I disagreed and took offense to her calling all white people “the oppressor”. I have many friends that are white and they do not “oppress” me, nor do their parents or any of my teachers of the past that have been white.

The definition of freedom according her was “the struggle for humanization that is thwarted by injustice”. I believe that this definition is partially correct, because freedom is using your universal rights as a human. However; not everyone is able to exercise those rights due to sexism, racism, and many other factors. We are all humans and have the same universal rights and should all have the freedom to exercise those rights. By freedom I mean we should have the ability to do what those rights allow.

The LEAP school is a school in Africa that validates and exalts traditional cultures. There is no sense of Europeanism there. No European symbols are in the LEAP school. It stands by a Zulu proverb that states, “A person is a person through other persons. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others”. The school is a safe environment where the kids learn to speak there mind and be active in projects, (things they weren’t able to do previously). I like the concept of the school and what values it instills in the students there. It gives them a new place away from where they live and the things they see daily. Those kinds of environments are always great.

The culturally relevant teachings extend into the LEAP school. They are, according to Dr. Edwin Nichols, African Logic, African epistemological styles, African Axiology (values), Cultural visibility, and social, emotional, and political responsibility. The number 1 value is relationships. And that is what teaching is all about. If you develop relationships with your students they learn better and take more in. The students grow to trust the teachers and therefore they actually feel cared for back, because the teacher took the time to build the relationships and learn about the child.