"In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning" - Kahne & Westheimer

In this article by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer it discusses the different domains of service learning and the challenges for the participants and advocates. I found this article to be pretty interesting because I have been involved in community service since I was 9 years old and I think that service learning is very important for anyone to learn about. Here's a site that has some lesson plans to use when broaching service learning with students. Some quotes that were important to this article are...

1. "Those who focus primarily on charity believe that, to be properly educated in democracy, students must undergo experiences that demonstrate the value of altruism and the dangers of exclusive self-interest. They stress the importance of civic duty and the need for responsive citizens. Volunteerism and compassion for the less fortunate are the undergirding conceptions of political socialization associated with this vision." - Page 5

   This is under the political domain where service learning should be based on what it means to be a citizen. I really agree with this quote because I feel like in a perfect world everyone would hold these qualities. I don't necessarily agree that this has to be politically involved though.

2. "In the intellectual domain, a service learning curriculum can further a number of goals. The ability of a service learning curriculum to foster authentic, experience-based learning opportunities, to motivate students, to help students engage in higher-order thinking in contextually varied environments, and to promote interdisciplinary studies" - Page 6

   This helped show a different side towards service learning and it not only being based on emphasising the need to do community service for altrusitic reasons but for different learning opportunities. If students actually get involved and see the differences in the world out there it would make it easier for them to learn about it in the future.

3. "Moreover, it is important to acknowledge that the choice of service learning activities - like the choice of any curricular activity - has political dimensions. Currently, the most broadly supported (and therefore most politically tenable) goal for service learning activities is to convey to students the importance of charity." - Page 12

   Before reading this article if someone had asked me if service learning activities were political I would have said no, but after reading this and thinking about it a little I began to realize that it was true. The activities that you choose to do say something about you as a person and it can say something about your politics, whether it says it obviously or not. Right now charity is something that as a country we consider very important and things in our everyday life proves this. Telethons for Haiti, the Jimmy Fund, and many more.