In the Service of What?

Article by Kahne and Westheimer
10/23/16
Extended Comments

This week I decided to use Colleen's blog for extended comments. Colleen did a great job of connecting readings that we have done to this article by Kahne and Westheimer.

Colleen states that it is beneficial for students to do service learning in their community and feel the reward of helping others out who are in need. I definitely agree on this thought. Going out into your town and helping citizens out is beneficial to not only the person you're helping, but to yourself as well. The people you are helping are teaching you things that you can take and use for the rest of your life. This article by The University of Minnesota shows some of the benefits of service learning for students, faculty, and the community.




Colleen also used a quote from the text that I thought explained a lot of what the reading was about. She used the quote, "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/Westheimer 2). Service learning is not only about going out and helping others, it's about learning things through the process of helping. I like this video where a different people talk about what service learning means. It is an interesting and engaging video.


Service learning is such a beneficial activity for students to go out and help people. I also think it is good to get out and do what you want to do for a living, (just like we are doing in the schools), so you will get an idea if it is what you want to do or not. I was lucky to also be in a first grade class my senior year of high school everyday from 1-3:30. In that class is where I decided that I belong teaching my own class one day because it is where i'm most comfortable. Service learning is also something so unforgettable to a student.

Points for discussion in class:
- Do you feel as though your service learning in the school is teaching you things as well as giving a service to the students?
- Service learning is rewarding for students to get out of the classroom and interact with their community
-I don't think it can really be harmful in any way. Students are out in the community, where they eventually will end up, getting a head-start on practicing life skills that they will use in their lifetime
***Thanks to Colleen for a great post for extended comments!!