Talking Points 5 - In the Service of What?

I really enjoyed reading this article. It was easy to relate to because it was about required service learning in schools, which we are doing in our FNED class right now. In addition, I was also required to complete 20 hours of community service in order to graduate high school. Because volunteer work and volunteering is a part of almost every high school, the concept of this article was not foreign to me.

"As is commonly the case with new policy initiatives, however, more attention has been focused on moving forward than on asking where we are headed."

It is easy to see flaws in the educational system, but often times principles and/or educators are likely put a quick fix on them, to fix errors one at a time as they rear. However, it is important to think further into the future, and to try and ask what the school system will be like in 5 or 10 years, and what we can do to ensure that it's a positive and open-minded environment.

"Mr. Johnson's curriculum included only minimal attention to any systematic analysis of the ills his students were helping to alleviate. Instead, his class focused on inculcating a sense of civic duty."

This was probably my favorite part from the article. Two classrooms were asked to do similar things - contribute to their community through community service. The first classroom, Mr. Johnson's, were allowed to volunteer at a location of their choosing. Many of them helped neighbors, family members, or volunteered at shelters. At first glance, this seems very noble, and it would appear that it would have a good impact on the kids. After reading about the second teacher, who actually had the students read and learn about homelessness, respond with their thoughts and feelings, and then raise money for homelessness relief, I realized that by only volunteering, students are not learning about the real issues. They don't get to examine how our culture, politics, and government are dealing (if they are at all) with these issues.

"After they returned, the students' perspectives on these elementary school children had changed. They 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." One student wrote, "Everyone at the school had good manners, and I think more highly of [the neighborhood] now."

I think this is a really powerful quote, because it shows how we all have preconcieved notions that we have learned from our parents and the media. It is not often that people are willing to break out of their comfort zone, so I feel that by challenging students to witness and experience things first hand, and to then respond to these situations, it's very beneficial to the community.