Thinking Piece #5: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer Reading

Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer: In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning

Premise:

• Community
• Learning experience
• Educators
• Legislators
• Politics
• Community service
• Controversial issues
• Engage
• Help
• Opportunities
• Encourage
• Teachers
• Students
• Volunteerism
• Compassion
• Participation
• Support
• Choices

Author’s Argument:

Kahne and Westheimer argues that today in America there are various ways in which children can actually gain satisfaction by wanting to take part in their community service requirements.

Evidence:

1. “In addition to helping those they serve, such service learning activities seek to promote students’ self-esteem, to develop higher-order thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic learning experiences—all goals of current curriculum reform efforts” (2). Kahne and Westheimer explain that while students are helping those in need they are also helping themselves. The students might be required to complete their community service but it is something that will open their eyes and realize how good they may have it.

2. “Service learning can advance other priorities, such as the acquisition of vocational skills” (6). Again, as the students realize how fortunate they are they begin to care more about what surrounds them, which then causes them to gain and act upon more professional/mature skills.

3. “They [school administrators] were ’surprised at the children’s responsiveness and their attentiveness,’ they found the children to be ‘extremely polite and surprisingly friendly,’ and they discovered that they ‘listened well and had excellent behavior’” (9). This just proves my assumption on what Kahne and Westheimer were trying to prove. Teachers and administrators are actually becoming shocked with the outcome of their student’s actions and new changes.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:

While reading Kahne and Westheimer’s article I found my mind continuously wonder. However, I do feel that this article had some very good examples and criteria to help back up their arguments but I still felt like it was repetitive. I was very astounded by the student’s overall improvement in each teachers challenge. I also felt that the teachers and administrators in the article were strong by consistently encouraging these students to help out that in need, but I still feel as though Kahne and Westheimer were weak when it came to not repeating the same facts over and over. Am I alone in this opinion?