In The Service Of What? The Politics of Service Learning -- Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
Reflection
This article was quite interesting. I don't know if many of us realized the two types of service learning. It raises several good questions. Is it enough to just 'help' and be charitable with your time or does it take some thought before and after to help and make a change? What we do in this class? I think it all depends on who you are. Yes, we have our discussions and the entire semester is spent learning about the differences and hardship some of the students may be facing. But really, it all comes down to what you make of it. Yes, we are giving our time. Yes, we don't have a choice in the matter. But aren't we working to help change lives? Isn't that why we want to become teachers? [It's not for the pay, certainly :) ] In trying to help the students, we should be trying to create that little spark within them to motivate them, to make them think that they can succeed, that they DESERVE to succeed and that they can go on to college, graduate, and live their lives the way they want to. That is the ideal. Without the discussion, the collaboration, the research that goes on in our classroom, that ideal would be further away than the sun. Without the classroom content we learn, we'd only be helping the students to pass their next test. There would be no lasting effect; once we left, they would be on their own again, perhaps only slightly better off than they were before. One person can change the world, yes, but only through effort and understanding.
What do you think? Are we making a difference and contributing 'change' rather than 'charity'? If we didn't discuss things so heavily in class, do you think it would be the same experience for you? Is there something I say that you disagree with?
I love my service learning placement. Even though I have to get up two hours earlier than I usually do (on Monday morning no less), I am always looking forward to starting my week with the fourth graders. But I worry that I'm not really making any difference. I don't think I am helping advance the kids' academics in any way because I am only there once a week. The only way I can really think I'm making a difference is by making the kids trust people in the school or maybe enjoy it a little more. I remind them when I will be coming back, and they seem to expect me and be glad when I come.
ReplyDeleteI honestly go home every Tuesday and Thursday and think about everything we do in class and I realize that I value my experience so much more because we have heavy discussions. Topics such as this need to be brought up, I believe we are contributing to a "change".
ReplyDeleteI like the question that you posted at the end of your blog, it really makes you realize how valuable our class time is. In class when we go into discussions you can really tell that everyone is paying attention and really thinking about the topic. This is untrue in many other classes and i feel like our class is a great experience for us. Also i believe that if we didnt go as dee into conversations that we have in the class room then my experience would be much different because i wouldnt be thinking about things as much.
ReplyDeleteFNED is in our required classes for a reason. It is to open our eyes and you made that clear. Some students may think that their VIPS tutoring may be a waste of time, but if this is the case, then they are not fit to be teachers. Of course this is changing the lives of students, and I feel that the only way their lives will continue to get better is only if that is what they want. We can only get our students so far. Like an old science teacher once told me, you can bring a horse to water but you cannot make him drink.
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