Ms. Worthy explained to us how the LEAP schools, like the one she visited, are culturally relevant. One of the ways their teaching is culturally relevant is by incorporating African Epistemology in their learning environments. Their school day runs a lot differently than our school day in a typical American school would run. They have multiple age groups together in one class and they do not break up all their subjects the way we do because African people learn better in that way. Ms. Worthy thinks we should re-segregate the schools in America and teach the black children in a more culturally relevant way so we can excel and be up to par with our white counterparts because it worked before, when segregation was forced. All this sounds good but it makes me question what was it all for in the beginning then, with fighting for desegregation of schools.
LEAP also caters to the emotional needs of the students. They have an entire class dedicated to sharing how they feel and “to develop the individual learner’s sense of wholeness, identity and belonging.” This gives them a safe, non-judgmental environment to learn and thrive in, which many if them still need since the apartheid has just recently ended and they are not adjusted to the changes. This could help a lot of American students, just to know that you are surrounded by people who care; because we definitely do not have that feel in our school system.
These schools work based on Ubuntu, which means humanity. A man defined freedom as “the struggle for humanization.” The LEAP schools put a great deal of emphasis on Ubuntu, it is almost like their way of life, it guides them throughout their entire school day. There is more to it than just humanity, it is the LEAP code of conduct. I think it would be beneficial to American students, if we learned about Ubuntu and applied it to our lives as they do.
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