In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning

Author’s Argument:

Kahne and Westheimer argue that in order to “serve” the community, we need to reflect and change what needs to be fixed inside the community. They investigate two cases of service learning-- both reflect on matters affecting the community. In order to be a citizen, we have to provide a service learning experience to our resumes.

Quotes:

1.) “He argued for the creation of ‘miniature communities' in which students would work together to identify and respond to problems they confronted” (4).

In today's democratic society, there are many people in need of assistance. As citizens we have to recognize these people and find our own ways of helping them. The miniature communities that the authors are talking about are our own neighborhoods of helping hands. As a VIPS volunteer, I think that the school I work at is a miniature community because it is filled with children who need to be taught something. It is my responsibility to recognize these students and to respond by teaching them what I think is best for their learning experience.

2.) “In contrast, much of the current discussion regarding service learning emphasizes charity, not change. The claim regarding the relation of service learning to the development of altruism is relatively articulate and, in many respects, compelling” (4).

It is so difficult to change a person. A student may volunteer because he/she has to do it. But to get a student to take something away from charity and learn and grow from their experience is an amazing feat. I know that in high school we had to do charity work in order to graduate. I worked at a nursing home, but I was not appreciative of my experience. I received no change from my experience. I just did it because I had to. But working with VIPS has made me feel like I was changing a child's life by being at the school and working one on one with him/her.

The authors identify charity as "giving" and the deep relationship received from charity as "caring". I think that when you volunteer, you are giving yourself to another person. As a young adult, I recognize that when you give your energy into something, you become selfless. That is what I get out of service learning. I drop the "me, me, me" act and think of someone besides myself. That is altruism.

3.) “Maybe this [community service] is what citizenship is about, acting in a decent way toward people who live where we live” ( 9).

What JFK said about serving your country is true. We need to ask what WE can do for our country, not the other way around. Why not serve the people who need help? What if we ever needed help? Would we hope for assistance? I know I would. In middle school I learned about reciprocal respect. Do unto others, as they do unto you. Under Obama's new US policies, we should provide service anywhere we see fit. It is all about citizenship.

Comments:

I thought this article was pretty boring because before we started with VIPS, we discussed how we need to provide service and learn from it. Going to a Catholic school my whole life, I know what charity work and giving is all about. As I am maturing, I realize that I am learning and growing from my service learning. It makes me feel good to help out. I do not want to do it because I have to (like I have done in the past). I want to be a citizen of the US and according to Kahne and Westheimer, I need to provide my services to those who need it.

Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us by Linda Christensen

Argument:

Christensen argues that through the media--children's books, children's movies, clothing ads, etc.--we can see that the world is dominated by one race, sex, class, or country. She wants the parents and teachers of the world to break this mold by making children realize that our society is distorted and it is up to everyone to dissect the media.

Quotes:

1. "...So why dissect the dreams..My dreams keep me from dealing with the unpleasant."

This quote was spoken by a student analyzing the media. All of her dreams, as well as who she is now, has been formed by Disney moves. The student says that all of her dreams are related to each other. The way she acts, thinks, and speaks are all influenced by her dreams. So, why would she want to alter her dreams? I think she has a fear of knowing that the media does "steal" her dreams because subconsciously that's where she got the dreams from. Starting as a little girl and developing into a young adult, the media has given her these dreams.

2. "Happiness means getting a man and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption--in [Cinderella's] case, through new clothes and a new hairstyle."

This quote sums up the media. Any television show or movie or advertisement, you can see the need for consumption. This can mean anything from having a man to owning the newest pair of skinny jeans. Self worth is determined by what you have. If you don't have a man or a new style, then you are unhappy. I disagree that these two things will make me happy. I think that surrounding myself with good people, family, and friends, will make me completely content.

3. "Women who aren't white begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess."

Almost every princess is white. There are the exceptions of Mulan and Jasmin. Two out of a lot more princesses are non-white. That is sad to see because there are waaaaay more than two people in our world who are non-white. As a white woman, who has a white three year old niece who loves Tinkerbell (that is a different issue in itself), I find that it must be difficult to fathom the idea that a non-white three year old girl rarely sees a princess who looks like her. I wonder who those little girls look up to?

Questions/ Comments:

What a sad article to read. I didn't actually cry while reading this article, but I did find it disturbing to read how distorted our media is, especially the cartoons I grew up watching. I mean I am set in my ways now, but I have a two year old nephew and a three year old niece who are very moldable. I think if you showed several types of cartoons, they could develop their own sense of the world. But maybe cartoons that have no people could be a better option to show kids because their is no race. However, if they looked at Spongebob Squarepants, then they would see a fat starfish who was dumb. Therefore, maybe they just shouldn't watch any cartoons because they all offer a negative mindset, whether it be with race, body type, ethnicity, or financial status. Now what can kids watch? National Geographic...and that's pretty much it.

Fin.

homosexuality=contagious?

Dennis Carlson, Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community

Carlson's Argument:
Carlson argues that public schools have a large part in rebuilding a multicultural community, in which sexuality is recognized and the silence is broken.

Quotes:

• In Carlson's argument he talks about a broken silence about sexual orientation. On page 237, Carlson references Willard Waller. Waller wrote The Sociology of Teaching, in 1932. In it he argues that homosexuality is contagious! Ridiculous, I know, but I didn't say it, Willard did. "He argued that homosexual teachers represented a danger to their students...certain [that] homosexuality is contagious". I chose this specific quote because it give some sort of voice towards homosexuality. It may not be a positive one that I agree with, but it is a start. The silence is broken.
• "In the late 1940s and early 1950s, homosexuality and communism were closely linked as threats to the 'American way of life'" (Carlson 237). So, now we have homosexuality as being contagious and threatening to the great American people. Given the time period when this was thought of, I can see where they were coming from. WWII had just ended and a Cold War had Brewed. Everyone had to watch their backs, people who seemed different from the SCWAAMP concept, were thought of as a threat.
• "These abuses get tolerated because gay teachers and students operate in an environment where they feel afraid to stand up for themselves" (Carlson 239). Homosexuals in our society are often teased, made fun of, beaten, and even killed. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy started by our military is very important because if no one knows your gay, you run the chance of not getting abused. I mean, how can one person stand up for every homosexual in our society? They can't. They know that nothing is going to change, so they tolerate this abuse. It is probably hard to find a dominant voice where you know no one is going to listen.

Comments:

I thought that it was funny to read some of the ideas formulated by people throughout the 1930s through 50s. The idea of homosexuality being contagious was ludicrous. Some of these ideas were far to crazy for me to fathom.

I feel like this article relates to Secondary Ed. teachers. Early and Elementary Ed. teachers should not have to worry about this. Middle and High schoolers are the ones to worry about. They harshly tease each other, but imagine if they found out their teacher was gay or a lesbian? The harassment would never end. Also, the curriculum in the younger grades seems to be neutral--there is no sexuality, besides the heterosexual mother and father combo. Most of the kids in these younger grades seem to think that the opposite sex has cooties anyway. When you get to the older grades, the students start to have more opinions of the world and our society.

***This article seemed the same as all the others, illustrating the idea of the privileged class. I'm wondering when people are going to realize this idea and fix the injustice made to those who have barely none, if any, privilege. ***

ARIA

Richard Rodriguez, Aria

Rodriguez's Argument:

Rodriguez argues that a person can become individualized by acclimating to the power culture, in this case English- speakers.

Quotes:

1.) "...While one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated to public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality" (Rodriguez, 39).

This quote is Rodriguez's argument. He states that sense he was forced to learn English for his education in American society, he achieved a public identity that was not there before when he only spoke los gringos. Throughout Rodriguez's article, he focused on how distant he felt from his parents because they only spoke los gringos. The mother and father had very little public identity, since they barely understood English. There was very little dialogue in the house because of this new found language barrier. His parents were okay with the fact that he had to learn English for the sake of Rodriguez's well being. The Rodriguez family was turning away from their private individuality's.

2.) "At last, seven years old, I came to believe that what had technically been true since my birth: I was an American citizen" (Rodriguez, 36).

Through discipline from his teachers and family, Rodriguez finally acclimated to the power culture. His family would make sure no one used Spanish sounding words in their attempt at the English language. They would call this "cheating". In school, Rodriquez had private tutoring sessions for a whole year. The teachers deliberately enunciated every sound in Rodriguez's Americanized name. Finally, when Rodriguez familiarized himself with this new language, he focused on the certain ways people talked--- actions, tones, etc. He described his silence while participating in this observation, as being "crowded with words". It seemed as if he prided himself on learning the ins and outs of English speaking Americans. Now, Rodriguez was finally a citizen.

3.) "On official business, it was she [mother], not my father, one would usually hear on the phone or in store, talking to strangers" (Rodriguez, 37).

Rodriguez discussed his fathers silence throughout this article. The mother would explain why his father was often very silent--"He was never encouraged to speak", his mother would say. His parents, mostly the father, seemed so set in their ways that they did not fully understand English. If not the children, the mother was the translator. She had this new powerful role in the house. She had to make important business decisions because she had the advantage of the power culture's language.

Questions/Comments/Point to Share:

Where I work, I come across non- English speaking people everyday. At the cash register, if there is not a translator, then it is very hard for me to understand and vice versa. It's probably very frustrating to not know English in America. If they do not know the language, then they have no public individuality. I agree with Rodriguez in the fact that there are two types of individuality--private and public. You may loose a bit of your private side, but you gain more of a public side. I think that it is worth it to loose a small part of your private side because you are now more apart of the power culture, since you acclimated to the language and public individuality. Once you have a little bit of power in you, you have so many more opportunities (better jobs, education, public persona) that you did not have before, say when you did not know English.

...That's All Folks....

talking points 1

Arguement:

In her article "White Privilege", Peggy McIntosh argues that there is this invisible racism of the white people in our society. Jobs, band-aids, housing opportunities, etc. are based on skin color. White people automatically get these opportunities, strictly because of this "power privilege". The list of everyday situations that McIntosh writes about are true--at least in my life anyway. The part where she writes that she can go shopping without being followed is true for me because I belong to this "white privilege". In order to change this unearned privilege and make it earned, we must realize how it affects how we live everyday. Like in the SCWAAMP activity, we have to force ourselves to realize the powers and advantages that we have working for us. Sex, ability, ethnicity,religion, etc., all affect the way we live and operate on a daily basis.

Quotes:

1. McIntosh eloquently brings racism to light. She says, "I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth" (McIntosh, 5). I used to think, up until now, that I was never racist. But, looking at this quote, I can see that institutions in our (white) society hold this invisible curtain of racism over our eyes. It makes me feel racist strictly because I am a white female living in this American society. We do not see racism until it is clearly brought forward.
2. "What will we do with such knowledge?" (McIntosh 6) McIntosh wants to know if we will try to put an end to unearned power, or at least "reconstruct [the] power systems on a broader base". I think that this knowledge comes from living in society. As a white female i have learned about this knowledge by seeing people different from me and the different/unequal opportunities they receive. I can obviously see that there is still racism in our society, but it is up to the advantaged white people to try to put an end to this racism.

I do not think that anyone has the right to judge, but a higher being. It gets me frustrated to see that one group (white people) in our Western society have the privilege and the ability to judge. Who made white people the power culture?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did not get as much information from this piece, as I did with the McIntosh article. What I did find intereseting was:

In his essay, "Data Show Racial Bias Persist", Salim Muwakkil writes that 55% of whites said yes to the fact that minorities are given an equal opportunity in the job force. This may be true for basic, entry level jobs, but in our society there is this invisible biased opinion that has been en grained in the American mind. Even on job applications, where the boss does not see the one wanting to be hired, the boss will pick the first and last name of the one who has the most "white- sounding" name. The name of the person has nothing to do with the ability of the person, but in our society we see that a non-white name could mean any racial stereotype you could think of. All of these typical stereotypes are probably wrong when thought of in a job related task, but the manager will more than likely use his/her biased opinion on who to hire for the position--typically the white person.

race

Peggy McIntosh wrote "White Privilege". It describes invisible racism of the white people in our society. Jobs, band-aids, housing opportunities, etc. are based on skin color. White people automatically get these opportunities, strictly because of this "power privilege". The list of everyday situations that McIntosh writes about are true--at least in my life anyway. The part where she writes that she can go shopping without being followed is true for me because I belong to this "white privilege". In order to change this unearned privilege and make it earned, we must realize how it affects how we live everyday. Like in the SCWAAMP activity, we have to force ourselves to realize the powers and advantages that we have working for us. Sex, ability, ethnicity,religion, etc., all affect the way we live and operate on a daily basis.

In his essay, "Data Show Racial Bias Persist", Salim Muwakkil writes that 55% of whites said yes to the fact that minorities are given an equal opportunity in the job force. This may be true for basic, entry level jobs, but in our society there is this invisible biased opinion that has been en grained in the American mind. Even on job applications, where the boss does not see the one wanting to be hired, the boss will pick the first and last name of the one who has the most "white- sounding" name. The name of the person has nothing to do with the ability of the person, but in our society we see that a non-white name could mean any racial stereotype you could think of. All of these typical stereotypes are probably wrong when thought of in a job related task, but the manager will more than likely use his/her biased opinion on who to hire for the position--typically the white person.

McIntosh eloquently brings racism to light. She says, "I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth" (McIntosh, 5). I used to think, up until now, that I was never racist. But, looking at this quote, I can see that institutions in our (white) society hold this invisible curtain of racism over our eyes. It makes me feel racist strictly because I am a white female living in this American society. We do not see racism until it is clearly brought forward.

I do not think that anyone has the right to judge, but a higher being. It gets me frustrated to see that one group (white people) in our Western society have the privilege and the ability to judge. Who made white people the power culture?

me

Hi guys! I'm Alyssa, sophomore, elementary ed. major, almost 20!!! I work two jobs, go to school every single day. I have a crazy household--- everyone lives here it feels like, but there is never a dull moment. I have a dog- Bella- she is the queen of the house, she always begs for food and runs around like she is possessed when she does not get her way. I love Sex and the City and the Hills :) I have absoloutely no time to do anything this semester, when I do get a chance to breathe I sleep. If I could read, I would have to read Leaves of Grass. I read a little while I attended Saint Michael's College in Vermont and I loved it! Other than those things, I have a pretty boring life. The End! <3