FNED 346:03 Blog Posts: In the Service of What?

In the Service of What?

By Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

I agree the quote presented in the beginning of this article and the quote stated by President John Kennedy, “...ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” (Westheimer) 1. To me this quote is definitely talking to all teachers, or all in that field, and that being in this field is also like serving our country as well. I remember this quote has been rephrased many times over my high school year and even now in college. A quote I like and just saw for the first time by Ronald Reagan stated, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” (Westheimer)1. This quote made me think how far I have come and thanks to education, I have learned and still have many more years to go in accomplishing my dreams.

I have experience doing a community service, once in middle school, and it was fundamental and educational. Like how Kahne and Westheimer has stated, “...students would interact with those less fortunate than themselves and would experience the excitement and joy of learning while using the community as a

classroom” (Westheimer) 3.

The only difference between the community service mention by Westheimer and the community service I encounter was that I had to do some community service to find a job. The similarity was that I learned mentally and socially what it meant to cooperate with others and serve our community. At the end I didn’t get a job but had a great experience and learned among peers my age.

I agree with Westheimer’s statement “Both provide authentic learning experiences, reflection on matters of social concern, and opportunities for interdisciplinary study linked to curricular goals” (Westheimer) 3. Relating to Wesdtheimer’s statement, I did some community service at a church during my freshman year. It was very rewarding and loving when I got to tutor those kids and they were able to reflect back on the works I thought them. Knowing how passionate it is, doing that community service, I was determined to continue my goals and my dream in the education field. Thinking about community service, it relates to “Privilege, Power and Difference” by Allan G. Johnson. It is a privilege that we are able to tutor at community centers and schools that connects to the FSNED program at RIC. Doing some community service helps improve our skills how to dealing with kids and what we can learn from them as well.

When Westheimer mention, “The curriculum theorists and education reformers wanted students to engage in service learning projects so that they would recognize that their academic abilities and collective commitments could help them respond in meaningful ways to a variety of social concerns” (Westheimer) 4. It reminds me of doing a high school project, in the field we are interested in, and I did an education topic where I was able to observe and tutor a teacher’s class. In this tutoring session, I was able to obtain more information about the respectable and corrupt things in the teaching field.