October 22, 2016
Connections
In the Service of What?

This week's article from Kahne and Westheimer looked at service learning.

By serving those in need in the community, students can benefit. This article highlights the benefits of service learning programs for both students and the communities.  Students can take what they are learning in classrooms and bring it to real life experiences while dealing with the needs of their community. It is very rewarding to create bonds with people in the community so both sides will feel connected and there is genuine concern. Service learning allows students to have a more hands-on learning experience and connect what they are being taught  in classrooms to real world events. Kahne and Westheimer state, "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." (2) Sometimes students do not connect with what is being taught in the classrooms and "drift" off.  When there is "action" in the classroom, then sometimes there is more beneficial learning.
Kahne and Westheimer stress that service learning is not just a civic duty. In, "Paul Hanna in his 1937 book, Youth Serves the Community, criticized efforts to serve which provided token amounts of needed aid yet never identified or responded to structural problems." (9) People need to do more than just give back.
This video shows engaging students beyond the classroom with service learning:

 

 In this video, Project Based Service - Learning Video,  a quote from Benjamin Frankilin: Tell me and I forgot, Teach me and I may remember, Involve me and I learn. - Ben Franklin

While I was reading this article, I was reminded of Joanathan Kozol's Amazing Grace. I have that picture of poor, poverty stricken area's like Mott Haven in my head. They also had volunteers that would come and try to do what they thought was best by handing out condoms and needles to keep AIDS from spreading but that did not stop drug use or prostitution.
As Lisa Delpit said, 'I suggest that students must be taught the codes needed to participate fully in the mainstream of American life, not by being forced to attend to hollow inane, de-contextualized sub-skills, but rather within the context meaningful, communicative endeavors."
Teachers and other educators can make a difference and help make underprivileged children successful. We have the power to give them the tools they need to have a positive impact.