In the Service of What?

The Politics of Service Learning

By Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

Quotes

“In the moral domain, service learning activities tend toward two types of relationships. Relationships that emphasize charity we will call “giving”.

Those that aim primarily to deepen relationships and to forge new connections we will call “caring.”

I chose this quote because I found it interesting that there are 2 different types of service learning. I always looked at is community service but never broke it down into what type of service I was actually doing, it was nice to learn what type of service was more “giving” and what was more “caring.”

“In the intellectual domain, a service learning curriculum can further a number of goals. The ability of 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….”

I liked this quote because it points out what service learning can do for a student. When I was in high school we never really had to do any service learning. By making students do more in school, it opens their eyes to different things. That is why I like that we are doing the service learning now because without this opportunity, I probably would have never volunteered in the school I am in.

“In the service of what? Is a question that inevitably merits the attention of teachers, policy makers, and academicians who take seriously the idea that learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America’s schools.”

This quote is important because it’s saying that this needs to be reinforced and America’s schools should be doing this.

Points to Share:

I am interested to see what other people’s high schools required for service learning? Also what people thought about this essay?

                                     

Cinderella ate my daughter

Cinderella Ate My Daughter

Peggy Orenstein

This text was easy to read, just very long. This is another story that makes me feel a bit torn. Some of the text I can agree with, but at points I just wanted to stop reading because I almost felt like I knew what was coming next.

Reflection

            I decided to write a reflection on this piece so I could compare it to my own personal life. Growing up I loved everything about Disney. Princesses of course were something my sister and I enjoyed very much. I also have a younger brother and we have numerous videos of us dressing him up in princess costumes. Did this affect him, no! He loved it, as much as we loved playing with fire trucks and Legos. I have a big family so I felt like we grew up playing with each other’s toys (boy and girl). This is why I have such a hard time reading these stories. Personally watching Disney Movies and wanting to be a princess at the age of 3 was a fantasy, when I actually understood the movies I knew that, that wasn’t real life and doesn’t happen.  My 3 year old toddler loves princesses, but she also loves toy story, power ranges, trains, reptiles, motorcycles and a lot more, just as much. I have a hard time agreeing that shows and movies like this affect such young kids in the way they see themselves.

            I do agree with Orenstein when she talks about the color pink, in today’s society. I don’t think that all the pink is necessary. Toys need to be made more gender neutral because boys should be able to play with “girl”
 toys without the fear of being made fun of.

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Linda Christensen

This article is so hard for me to write about because I am totally torn on the issue. When I was a little girl and still to this day, I love the Disney Movies. I was always taught that they were not real, just fairy tales. I am sure when I was little I would say “ I want to be a princess like Cinderella.” My daughter is 3 and she absolutely loves all the Disney Princess’s. At 3 years old she really doesn’t understand the whole concept.  So now every time she is playing dress up or wanted to watch one of the movies I am going to be thinking about this “Secret Education.”

EXTENDED COMMENTS:

Since I was torn between whether or not I agree, or disagree with this article, I decided to read some other blogs. Nicole’s blog really stood out to me.  She wrote a reflection on this article and titled it “A prison for your mind.”  I have never taken critical theory so I am a little confused on the whole concept but I would like to pull this quote from her blog. “ After taking this class you are forced to see things that shape society and you as a individual, when in reality you’re not really an individual at all…. All in all though, you determine what you want yourself to see, if you want to remain ignorant or accept awareness of these things.” This stood out to me because the whole time I was reading this article I was thinking to myself, I am aware of what they are saying and how they are comparing it to these movies and shows we have all been exposed to but I think they are looking into it way to much. Now I am thinking that maybe I am just being ignorant to this “secret education” because personally these issues have never affected me. Reading about this issue on Nicole’s blog gives me a better understanding because she says that the fairy tales she watched growing up affected her.

Points to share: I am still trying to figure out if I agree with this article because at such young ages we don’t understand this stuff. Once we get to the age where we do understand I feel like the society is a way worse. The video that Nicole posted about the media’s manipulative influence was a really good video. Pop culture is way worse then Disney Movies!

SAFE SPACES

Safe Spaces- Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth Annemarie Vaccaro, Gerri August and Megan S. Kennedy

Reflection:

I wanted to write a reflection on this piece because I feel strongly about this topic. It doesn't necessary relate to me personally but I know a lot of people who have struggled with this. It makes me feel sick to my stomach that YOUNG adults have so much hurt that they consider taking their life due to issues of sexual orientation. We hear more and more about suicides and the ages are getting younger and younger. Even though there are many LGBT organizations, a lot of people don't feel comfortable reaching out. In this story it talks about how educators can create safe spaces which I find really important. Students should feel safe at school since that is where a lot of discrimination happens.

 "When someone with the authority of a teacher, say, describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing. Our classrooms need to be mirrors and windows for all students-mirrors in which youth see themselves in the curriculum and recognize their place in the group, windows through which see beyond themselves to experiences connected with, but not identical to, their own. Creating safe spaces for all students..." I really enjoyed this quote, I think that it is saying that sometimes we all don't have the same experiences and sometimes we all don't agree on the same things and not everyone has to, but everyone has had an experience in life where they felt they didn't belong, and somehow that connects us to eachother. 

Points to Share:

Thinking back to when I was in High School, we never talked about these issues in the classroom. The "norm" was having a mom and dad at home, or being boyfriend-girlfriend. I think it is very important for educators to get on board with this even if they don't agree. If you are a teacher you obviously care for children and to see children taking their lives due to issues in the school, how could you not want to help?

Aria By Richard Rodriguez

Argument:

I decided to read Aria written by, Richard Rodriguez. 

Richard Rodriguez is arguing in his story the struggle of bilingual children. In this article he is sharing his story as a young boy who speaks Spanish as his primary language, but trying to learn English. He states that "supporters of bilingual education today imply that students like me miss a great deal by not being taught in their family's language." He refers to English as the public language and Spanish as the private language. I think that it is almost like he is being forced to learn the English language because in school that is what they spoke. Rodriguez says that as his family started to learn how to speak better English, they grew apart. He started to feel that he belonged in public, that he was finally an American citizen, even though that special bond and closeness his family once shared was gone. He often refers to it as the "silence". 

"Fewer words passed between parent and child, but more profound was the silence that resulted from my inattention to sounds."

I pulled this picture because overall I think that Rodriguez is saying that by forcing students to learn the public language at home instead of their native language, takes a huge toll on the family and potentially ruins their bond.

"The bilingualists simplistically scorn the value and necessity of assimilation. They do not seem to realize that there are two ways a person is individualized. So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality."

In class I intend to speak about this overall story Rodriguez shares. I think that we are working towards this problem in the classrooms. In schools today other languages are offered at younger ages. There are also many TV shows that help younger children learn different languages. When I was younger I never remember watching shows that taught me spanish. I didn't even take a language class in High School, but now as my daughter grows up a lot of the TV shows she likes speak both English and Spanish.

TAKE TWO!
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack By Peggy McIntosh

Quotes(Forgot to mention this in my first post)
I wanted to start this post off with one of the first quotes McIntosh writes. "I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group." I liked this quote because it reminds me of what we discuss in class. Racism is categorized, an individual can act racist but they learned it from another person or people. Growing up I didn't know that racism was talking about white people, I just thought that it was an individual person acting it out.

"Whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege." I like the comparison she made in this quote because I agree. I was never brought up thinking I was privileged because I was white, just like males don't think they are more privileged.

This video talks about both points I wrote about

He is a comedian- hope this video it ok to post!

Nemo Fun!