By: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
Reflection
I think that the beginning of this reading describes what we should be doing/getting out of our service learning at the elementary schools. Our service learning can help
"improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing rich educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling...[we] aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students."By doing this service learning, we are able to
"promote students' self-esteem,...develop higher-order thinking skills,...make use of multiple abilities, and...provide authentic learning experiences."Most service learning is for the students to help their community and to give back. They are able to learn more about themselves, their community, and other social concerns. Service learning is a great opportunity for students...well basically for everyone, not just students.
"Unfortunately, in many service activities, students view those they serve as clients rather than as a resource"Service learning should be done in order to help and give back to the students' community or school. Students should use this as a learning experience to better understand what is going on around them.
There are many different definitions and requirements for service learning, it all depends on your state and school district. Personally, I had to do at least 30 hours of community service in order to graduate. 30 hours over a span of 4 years, which is about 7.5 hours a year. Students in my school went crazy saying that is too much time...I don't have time to do that...I work and have homework and other responsibilities...etc. You have 4 years to complete 30 hours. We were told at orientation in 8th grade that by the time we graduated, we would need 30 hours. It is not a big deal at all. You are giving back and helping out...30 hours is the least you can do. I would love to see them placed in an Atlanta school or Maryland school district where they have to do 75 hours in order to graduate.
Service learning benefits everyone. There are no cons or negatives that come out of it. The time helps you better understand what goes on around you. You get to see what other people go through and help them and your community.
There is absolutely no need to complain about giving some of your time to help others.
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Points/Questions:
I am curious as to who needed community service/service learning in order to graduate from high school...and how much of it. I always thought it was mandatory for everyone to do hours. I personally had to complete 30 hours and have the supervisor or person in charge sign...there was no reflection or essay or questions, just a signature. What did everyone else have to do???
I really enjoyed your post and I'll be using it in my blog for extended comments. For my school we had to do 15 hours which is nothing over the span of 4 years as well, yet people still complained as well saying how hard that is, yet day after day we spend more than 15 hours a week on our phones, watching tv and doing other things but 15 hours of community service is too much? I agree that its ridiculous how people complain.
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree that 30 hours of community service is not too much. Like I said in my blog, my community service was included in my religion class so we didn't have to do it on our own time, but even if I had to it wouldn't be something I would complain about. It's about helping others and getting the most out of the experience. I also used your post in my blog for extended comments!
ReplyDeleteAriana, I loved reading your blog and I completely agree with the points and ideas you talked about. I mentioned it a little in my blog too how important it is to go do these hours because you want to and not just because you need to go to say you did it. You really don't get anything out of the time you're there if you don't want to be there and complain. I think people should be more excited about helping others because overall, in whatever case, it is a good experience and they should try and get the most out of it. To graduate from my High School, every senior had to take a class called Civic Responsibility. It was a half year course but within that time, every senior had to complete 10 hours of community service. It was different from your school with the number of hours we had to complete and how much time we had to do it, but at my school we had go do some sort of community service also. I can't really remember too much about it but I know we had to get a signature and write an essay about the time we spent doing those hours.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post Ariana ! I had read on another post that yours was exemplary so I had to check it out :) I love Katherine's comment and how she expanded on the need to be sincerely invested in your service learning experienced in order to fully learn the lessons that are associated with Altruism. I agree !
ReplyDeleteIn my high school everyone was "required" to do 25 hours of community service. There was no reflection that needed to be done with it. However, everyone was always finding loop holes. For example, I played golf in high school. Due to the fact that I played a sport, I did not have to do the community service hours. As I said on another comment, my school was starting to implement a new curriculum to make it more "service learning" like.
ReplyDeleteYour quotes you chose were great examples of the main ideas of the article. I also liked that you added that service learning shouldn't be a burden on those who volunteer. They should be doing it because they really want to be there and help. My high school required 25 hours and a signature from a supervisor. We then had a Digport entry to complete about community service.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely on your side with the issue of being instructed to complete such "high" hours of community service. I understand that high school students indeed do have a heavy work load, but over a 4 year time span they should be able to get it done. I wonder if it would be a good idea for schools to enforce a rule of a certain amount of hours should be completed each year. I also think if students picked a form of service they could personally relate too then it would encourage them to be more involved. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteAriana, you did a great job on your post! I found your reflections on the ideas shared in the article extremely agreeable. Hence why I used your blog for extended comments:) You make a great point, service learning is beneficial to everyone. It is impossible to think of a negative outcome that would come from volunteering and giving your time to the community in some way. I love your positive attitude about community service. I wish more people had that attitude, (P.s. please ignore how late this comment is) You did an awesome job. Thank you for the insight!
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