Kahne and Westheimer

Reflection:
In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

The article brings attention to service learning and what that means. Service learning is the idea that students can learn outside of a traditional classroom setting and do so by helping others. The article says, "Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to

respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students." This is an important concept because it fights traditional learning styles. Service learning allows students to connect with their community and become more well-rounded on their knowledge of the world around them. Kahne and Westheimer state, "Our goal is not to replace consensus with conflict, but rather to point out the various ideological, political, and social goals that can be promoted by service learning activities in schools." They directly state that they want students to learn different and more lessons from this type of learning. Service learning gives students an opportunity to come up with their own ideas and reap the benefits directly. In my own life I can already see the benefits from working with the kindergartners. I found out how good I am with younger kids and that I want to be more involved with them. I also discovered that I do not necessarily want to be a high-school teacher and am considering working more with younger students. Seeing this kids is also giving me insight as to how the younger generations see the world. They are more insightful than I thought and have a lot to say about the world around them. Service Learning Projects help students experience the world in a different and more independent way.

More information about Service Learning:
http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/service-learning/