Kahne and Westheimer- Quotes- Blog 6

“In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning” by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer discuss how important community service is and the following three quotes show this.
“Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students” (Kahne and Westheimer). Service learning has the word learning in it for a reason. The participants learn from the community they are working with and that furthers their knowledge. Participants are not only helping others, they are also helping themselves.
“These two service learning projects have much in common. Both provide authentic learning experiences, reflection on matters of social concern, and opportunities for interdisciplinary study linked to curricular goals. Moreover, the goals of both projects have broad-based appeal. They stress the importance of compassion for those in need, and they encourage children and young adults to find ways to help” (Kahne and Westheimer). Doing service can lead someone to discover something they are passionate about and could encourage them to pursue a future career within that field. Being able to learn something new is a huge part of service learning and I think that often many people go into service opportunities thinking that they are just helping people in need and not thinking about what they will learn.
“The experience was structured to promote giving rather than to provide the kind of understanding needed for the development of caring relationships. As a result, the student's description of the event lacked the perspective and input of those she was helping” (Kahne and Westheimer). People need to realize who they are helping and why, rather than just feel good about themselves for helping “the needy”.
I think the following picture and article really shows what service learning is all about and why it is helpful to the people being helped and to the people helping.
Image result for service learning

Comments

  1. Akkaoui_BlogLogMarch 25, 2019 at 10:48 AM

    I love the picture making these visual connections is really helpful. I think in the struggle to meet the quantity for our requirements we forget about the quality and reasoning that we are doing it. Also by the way your post is to the side.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sbabulaApril 8, 2019 at 7:31 AM

    I love that you placed in the picture that you did, because it gives the reader a sense of what they are thinking about while reading this blog.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Journal 6

One day when I was at Pleasant View Elementary School, I was talking to my classroom teacher and she told me that the day before that a girl from the classroom nextdoor called another student the r-word. This truly shocked me. Where does a five year old child learn that word? Why did she think that it was okay to use that word? The r-word was first used as a way to describe developmentally delayed people. It is an outdated and cruel term that is used to call someone stupid or slow. Even though this five year old most likely did not know the true meaning and was not meaning to be so hurtful, she was very rude. There is a campaign to end the r-word and it has people pledge to not say the hurtful r-word. The campaign to end the r-word states, “Why Pledge? The R-word is the word 'retard(ed)'. Why does it hurt? The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It's offensive. It's derogatory. Our campaign asks people to pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point towar...
Read more

First Day in Placement- Journal 1

After your first day in your classroom, write a vivid description of your school and classroom. What is the neighborhood like?  What do you see when you walk in the school building? Describe the cultures, languages, and other sociocultural characteristics of the students in the classroom in which you are tutoring. How do you feel being here?  Is this environment like or unlike your own K-12 schooling experience? Pulling into the parking lot at Pleasant View Elementary School frightened me a little bit. I could see the school. It looked grey and dull. All the windows had metal bars on them and were all covered so no one could see in or out of the classrooms. Growing up, I had been to school in three different countries and been to twelve schools but the bars on the windows still scared me and made me think this school might not be safe. The neighborhood this school is in is not bad or unsafe, though. The school is just a couple minutes away from lots of houses that see...
Read more

What to Look For in a Classroom- Journal 3

*to type on this form, MAKE A COPY (under file) to save to your own google drive Alfie Kohn: What to Look For in a Classroom Good Signs Possible Reasons to Worry My SL Classroom Furniture Chairs around the tables to facilitate interaction Comfortable areas for learning, including multiple "activities centers" Open space for gathering Chairs all facing forward or (even worse) desks in rows Chairs around tables. Two different carpets for students to sit on. On the Walls Covered with students' projects Evidence of student collaboration Signs, exhibits, or lists obviously created by students rather than by the teacher Information about, and personal mementos of, the people who spend time together Nothing Commercial Posters Students' assignments displayed, but they are (a) suspiciously flawless, (b) only from "the best" students, or ( c) virtually all alike List of rules created by an adult and/or list of punitive consequences for be...
Read more