Talking Points #5- Kahne & Westheimer

Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer. "In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning"; from Phi Delta Kappan.

Kahne and Westheimer argue that educators must teach their children to use their service learning projects to transform their communities, rather than only using them to perform a civic duty. If children only try to be good servants of their communities without analyzing the problems plaguing them, then those problems will remain.

• "The hope (of the service learning projects) was that students' values and beliefs might be transformed by these experiences. As Lawrence Cremin explains, these educators believed that, 'by manipulating the school curriculum, they could ultimately change the world.'" This quote is important because it states what every teacher wants to accomplish. Every educator wants to instill the values in their students to not only be charitable within their communities, but to get at the root of the problems plaguing their communities and fix those problems. Students must be taught that you cannot put a band-aid on a gushing wound. Being charitable is only a band-aid being put on the gushing wound of community problems. Being charitable is wonderful, but being able to solve the problems is even better.
• "We attempt to 'apprehend the reality of the other' and then to 'struggle [for progress] together.' In so doing we create opportunities for changing our understanding of the other and the context within which he or she lives." This quote is important because it shows what students who truly want to solve the problems in their communities should be doing. Students must learn that before you can help solve the problems of another person, you must first see the problems from their perspective. This process goes beyond civic duty or performing community service. It is about thinking analytically to solve the plight of another.
• "While requiring students to 'serve America' (the rhetoric of the federal legislation) might produce George Bush's 'thousand points of light,' it might also promote a thousand points of the status quo." This quote is important because it shows that being charitable is not the only solution to our country's problems. Being charitable will not cause the problems to go away overnight. Being charitable to those less fortunate then you is only a small part of the overall solution. To solve a problem, you must first look at it from all angles and from all points-of-view. Working towards solving the problem completely is much more effective then putting a band-aid on the problem. Charity does not solve the problem, it continues to perpetuate the problem.

This article was somewhat long, but it was a fairly easy read. The article sent an important message to students. Being charitable is a wonderful thing, but being able to analyze the problems in your community in order to solve them is much more important. It is not a feasible idea to put a band-aid on a wound that requires stitches. So, it is not feasible to believe that charity alone will solve community problems. Believing that charity alone can solve serious community problems such as homelessness or poverty, is turning a blind eye to the real issues. This article reminds me of a very famous quote where "if you give a hungry man a fish, he will have dinner for one night, but if you teach him how to fish, he will never go hungry again." The purpose of our service learning projects is to experience life from the children's points-of-view in order to better educate them. By understanding other people's problems, we can come to a better understanding of how we relate to one another and how we can work together to solve each other's problems.