Joseph Kahne & Joel Westheimer

Alyssa Giammarco
Dr. Corinne McKamey
FNED:346
27 October 2018

In The Service Of What? The Politics Of Service Learning By: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

Summary of the Article:
In the beginning of the article the author explained the importance of service learning, and how it can improve the classroom, community, and the experience for students in every grade level. With serve learning students become more active and engaged in projects. This is because serve learning projects   "aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students." According to the author examples of service projects include working with the homeless, analyzing and monitoring swamplands, and oral history of the community. "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." This quote reveals that students who are involved in a serve learning project will adapt these importance skills more easily then people who are not involved in one.

Furthermore, the author discusses two examples of service learning projects in a classroom. The first serve learning project dealt with Mr. Johnson's project for his 12th grade U.S. government course. Mr. Johnson's strategy involved letting his students choose their serve learning project. For example one of his students chose to work in a center for babies whose mothers were addicted to high levels of cocaine during their pregnancy. Another student chose to work in a hospital running errands for doctors and locating sites for patients. A third student chose to prepare and distribute survival kits for the homeless.  Mr. Johnson explained that if his children worked with people who were less fortune than them, then they would "experience the excitement and joy of learning while using the community as a classroom." The second service learning project that the author addressed is Ms. Adams a seventh grade teacher who took a different approach on what her children could choose as a topic. Ms. Adams and her class talked about issues of common concerns and then voted on the issue of homelessness as their topic. Ms Adams had her students listen to speakers from the homeless, create files of newspaper articles on homelessness and read other items. To get involved in the community she had her students select two homeless advocacy groups and helped them raise money. She then had them reflect as a class or in small groups on the readings they read, what they learned throughout the project, and on their overall experience. The author godson to explain the similarities and differences the Mr. Johnson and Ms. Adams share. For their similarities they both provide learning experiences that reflect toward areas of concern. They also address the importance of those in need and they encourage their students to make a difference. As for differences, Mr. Johnson's class focused on civic duty, whereas Ms Adams class focused on critical analysis of the concerns on homelessness and strategies to help those in need.

Hyperlink:
http://www.cpsed.net/chsw/
This is a link to the school website of Cranston High School West. Cranston High School West provides service learning projects in all of their Career and Technical programs. When I transferred there as a sophomore from Johnston High School I enrolled into the Child Development Program. This program gave me the opportunity to be involved in the community while still learning. As a sophomore you get to work in the preschool that is attached to the classroom. This is the year that the students get to create relationships and bonds with the preschoolers while also becoming familiar with their environment. As a junior the students get to go out into the community and intern at a facility called The Trudeau Center. This is an inclusive school where you get to develop skills in helping children who have a difficult time with learning. I loved going to the Trudeau Center because I was able to make a difference in the children's lives. Cranston West sends their students to schools that need more guidance to help them learning. As a senior in the program you have the choice on what school you would like to student teach in. This is where you develop lessons plans for every domain. Towards the end of your senior year you will take these lesson plans from your field sites and construct a binder filled with pictures, stories, etc from your experience. Cranston West gives their students the oppurtunity to help the community and people in need. They provide one of the best programs that will help their students become more responsible in the future.

Points To Share In Class:
I believe that every student in every school should be assigned a serve learning project because it helps them get involved in the community while still learning. There are many people out in the community who are less fortunate and who are struggling. With schools going out and helping, they can make a great difference in their lives.

Link to the Reading:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0Uk96Z2g3NDI2bkU/view