IN THE SERVICE OF WHAT - KAHNE AND WESTHEIMER

PREMISE

• charity
• change
• advocacy
• politics
• action
• teachers
  

ARGUMENT
Kahne and Westheimer argue that service learning currently emphasizes charity when it should focus on real change.

EVIDENCE

"The value of this approach is extended far beyond the service students might provide for the elderly or the ways they might clean up the environment. It lay in the analytic and academic skills, the moral acuity, and the social sensitivity they would develop as they learned to assess critically and respond collectively to authentic problems. The hope was that students' values and beliefs might be transformed by these experiences...In contrast, much of the current discussion regaurding service learning emphasizes charity, not change." (4)

"Bush was advancing voluntary community service as an alternative to government programs. He made no mention of changes that address the structural injustices that leave so many in need. This kind of service runs the risk of being understood as a kind of noblesse oblige - a private act of kindness performed by the privileged." (9)

"Citizenship requires that individuals work to create, evaluate, criticize, and change public institutions and programs." (9-10)

COMMENTS
At first i was hesitant to accept that there was a difference between charity and change, but after being presented the evidence and examples I can now say that I understand what they mean. I believe it is extremely important to stress change over charity. The previously mentioned quotes really resonated with me and basically outline what I feel about the issue as of right now.