* Elizabeth's Blog
*Jasmine's Blog
Terms I Needed To Look Up:
Altruism: The belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.
Alleviate: make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe.
Invigorate: give strength or energy to.
In The Service of What?
The Politics of Service Learning
By Joseph Kahne & Joel Westheimer
Extended Comments on Kate Gould's Blog
For this week's blog, I choose to write a response with Kate's blog as the focus because I think she did a good job at explaining and getting right to the main points. Kate explained in her post how the main concept of this piece was to show the different ways service learning effects the children, teachers and the volunteers involved. She goes on to then explain the two different learning cases that were talked about. Mr. Johnson's project was set for students as individuals to go out and help different groups of people. On the other hand, Ms. Adam's worked with her students as a whole to raise money and from there they worked with a specific group. I agree with what Kate said next and that was, "The students in Mr. Johnson's class I think they really benefitted from the experience. This type of work helps students explore different types of careers and experience all different life styles; while also helping out those in need. Ms. Adam's class however I think is creating more of a difference towards those who need help."(Kate Gould) These two projects are really alike in some ways but then again have differences. For Mr. Johnson's project, they were able to experience and benefit more because of what they were exposed to. They were able to see different kinds of life styles that were still in need but maybe not too much in need compared to the people Ms.Adam's class worked with. Ms.Adam's class focused on more of the homeless and helped with their shelters. Both projects helped a variety of different people in their situations but in different ways through their services.
"Are people participating in service learning because they feel they have a sense of duty or are they doing it for the greater good for those in need?" (Kate Gould)
I think this was an important question to add in because it I think it is important to ask yourself this when you are someone that in participating in some sort of service learning. I love going into the classroom where I've been assigned and helping these kids and I don't see myself doing it just because I have to for this class. Yes, for this class 15 hours is a requirement so I go to complete the requirement but I plan to keep going and hope that I am making a difference for these kids. I go each week and work on math with them and I can already see them improving with their skills. In this case, I am doing in for the children's benefit and not just because I have to. In these classrooms they need that extra body or two to work with a smaller group of children to make sure they really understand whatever topic we are learning about. Service learning should be something we enjoy doing and see purpose in it rather then just going to say that you did.
Kate mentioned at the end of her blog that she can relate this article to the one we read before by Kristof's. I completely agree with how she related these two articles. If Rick had people come into his school, he may have enjoyed going to school and therefore got more out of it.
 |
| https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/216x146/c2/85/5c/c2855c9d973de1c71ff4f04f329f44d7.jpg |
Points To Share:
I think it is important to talk about how much service learning can benefit people and people who choose to volunteer their time,should take it serious. If there is someone who does volunteer their time and goes into a school for example to work with children, they should want to be there. They need to see the value of their time there. If you go just to go, can you really say you made a difference for those children? Did you help them learn? Do they enjoy you being there? And mostly, do they feel good about the time they have spent there?
Katherine, I completely agree with your ideology on the point of service learning: it should be mutually beneficial. I like how FNED 346 is the first "educational content" based course students are required to take before their application is submitted to the Feinstein School of Education. The course helps students to understand that becoming a future educator does not just mean teaching a child their A,B,C's or 1,2,3's..... it is more than that. Social and political issues come into play throughout the educational field and educators need to understand that not all children learn the same way. The Service Learning part of this course I feel really gives a college student a "real life" taste of what life is like being an educator in a classroom. Some students may fall in love with the concept of teaching, many may continue to pursue an education degree, and others may decide that the field of education is not the best fit for them all from having the opportunity of engaging in a service learning experience.
ReplyDeleteKatherine I think you really got where I was going with my blog! I also really enjoyed that you added that we need to value our time when we are at our serve learning. Yes, it is a requirement of the class to go and work with these children. However if we go in thinking that we are there on our own terms and know we are making a difference, then everyone is going to benefit.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I agree with you I also personally love going into my classroom helping the students. I never think about it in a selfish way because this is required for the class but I genuinely like being there. Also love the picture really ties everything together!
ReplyDelete