In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

Blog about Emily O's Blog:


       I really enjoyed Emily's blog. She did the category hyperlinks and I feel she chose some really good images, articles and a video that helped me understand Kahne and Westheimer's article a lot better. I struggle reading this article due mostly to the vocabulary.
      Emily's blog starts out briefly describing what the article is about as well as relating it to her own service learning project. I agree with Emily when she says "Service learning greatly strengthens one's education and also self esteem just knowing that they have helped out other people." Like Emily, my VIPS project has really intrigued me so far. It has given me the opportunity to put what I learn in the classroom directly to use. This not only makes me feel good about myself because I am simply helping someone but it also makes me more confident putting this classroom knowledge to use and seeing it actually work. I am a very hands- on learner and my VIPS project has made me more comfortable in a classroom setting which has helped the children individually and will also help me once I graduate if I want to become a teacher. In this first paragraph Emily also states how service learning should be a requirement in order for all highschool students to graduate. I think this is an excellent idea for all highschool and college students so we have hands on experience as well as book knowledge when entering the work world.                                                                

         Emily's first link really helped me understand what service learning meant in a more factual way. I thought this link directly related and helped me a  great deal to fully understand what I am currently doing. Her second link I found a bit more interesting though. This link described what direct and indirect service was. This was also very informative and was a bit easier to read because the font was larger than the first link and it was in bullet format. I agree when Emily states that "direct service seems to be more effective to both the recipient and the person volunteering." I also feel it is more rewarding emotionally and motivates both the recipient and volunteer to continue learning or providing service learning better than the indirect service. Emily's last link was a video about academic outcomes through service learning. I actually watched this video first after I read the original article by Kahne and Westheimer. I did this because the article was such a struggle for me that I needed a visual stimulate to keep me motivated. I am very happy that Emily did post such a video that allowed me to continue to focus on my task at hand. I enjoyed seeing the outcomes, they made me more excited about what I am doing with VIPS and also made me realize how effective and positive service learning can be to both the individuals and the collective such as the community.




I added this video because it talks about the topic Emily mentions of service learning in highschools. This was the first video I directly posted so I hope it works!