WYPR’s program On the Record, hosted by Sheilah Kast, wrapped up its ongoing series profiling the 2016 cohort of OSI-Baltimore’s Community Fellows by speaking with LaMarr Darnell Shields about his project, The Teacher Exchange.
In a reversal of the traditional teacher-student relationship, The Teacher Exchange aims to engage young people in their own education by having them act as coaches to new teachers. The inspiration for the project came to Shields shortly after he moved to Baltimore and began working as a teacher at City College. A sophomore named Henry Brim helped Shields understand the language and culture of Baltimore, coaching him to become an “Ubuntu” teacher. The Nguni Bantu word roughly translated means “human kindness,” and the overall concept is a belief in a universal bond that connects all of humanity, something that Shields believes applies to cultural sensitivity and teaching.
Read about the whole class of Fellows here and listen to previous shows featuring OSI’s 2016 Community Fellows Eliseba Osore, Jermaine Bell, Jennifer Will Thapa, Melissa Badeker, Isa Olufemi, and Kate Miller, Gianna Rodriguez, Deborah Ramsey, and JC Faulk
