Talking Points #5: Kahne and Westheimer "In Service of What?"

            This article's focus is based on students and how they can participate in the community. The article, "In Service of What?" explains the importance and enriching factors which community service can provide to younger populations. Kahne and Westheimer bring to the table an important notion that children should not be confined to learning only in a classroom. Classrooms can provide rich learning experiences, but that does not mean that learning will be well-rounded.
          "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. While service learning advocates rush to forge coalitions and find a shared vocabulary that accommodates multiple agendas and while practitioners and researchers begin to work on difficult  implementation and evaluation issues, educators from schoolhouse to university to statehouse are neglecting to answer the most fundamental question: In service of what?" This quote is so true in that it basically reacts to people's want of everything RIGHT NOW. Impatience has grown to become a key behavioral trait that many societies possess. I know I myself rush to do everything, even though I always find myself late. The authors give two examples of legislation, The National and Community Service Act of 1990 and The National Service Trust Act of 1993. People expect positive results right away, but not everything works in high-speed. I think that as humans, we need to be looking at the path we are walking on, instead of the clearing up ahead, which is what the authors are trying to relay.
         The second quote that caught my attention was, "In contrast, much of the current discussions regarding service learning emphasizes charity, not change. The claim regarding the relation of service  learning to the development of altruism is relatively simple to articulate and, in many respects, compelling." I think that people revert to calling their service a charity, for many people anyways, is the fact that as one person, many feel that they cannot really change anything. This is obviously not true because however small an impact is, it's still an impact. Going back to Christensen's article about the media, we see all these movies about people who have done great things which they are praised for, but what about those people who have done great things which have not been recognized?
          "To tap into the full power of service activities, however, these practitioners would want to combine critical inquiry with action. This process can transform students' understandings of both disciplinary knowledge and the particular social issues which they are engaged." I liked this quote the best because I want to be a teacher. I know that when I become a high-school teacher that I will have to consider ideas like this because no two students are alike, each and every one will learn differently. I also liked it because, as I said before, it will help to make a well-rounded classroom. I know there will be millions of things that I can't teach my kids, but that is what makes this article so important. If I can connect my students actions with critical inquiry, there service will have more importance. Even more, some of those things that I or other teachers cannot touch upon, they will learn from others who can!!!!