Charity vs. Change

Where is the Power?

The reading by Kahne and Westheimer "In Service of What" opened me up to an entirely new perspective when it comes to service learning.

Often times when schools from suburban, wealthier areas try to give back to their community, the classes will develop a sort of  "savior" complex. By this, I mean that because there isn't much intimacy between the students and whomever it is that they are helping, they assume that only the ones that are underprivileged are benefiting from the situation. in 

this case, the service learning is more so an act of charity.

Charity is a great way to give back and help others, however it is a short term solution to a much larger problem. But the United States government LOVES to instill this idea that it's citizens should give to the less fortunate without questioning. By not asking questions, or not placing yourself in the shoes of whomever is is that you're helping, you won't be able to make any changes to the root of the problem.

And that is exactly what the government wants you to do. "Give food to the poor!", they say. but by solely doing that, yes less people go hungry, but nobody questions why there is so much poverty to begin with. Which means, the government won't have to put in the extra work to tackle the issue.

Government: "yess do the work for me"
 

One experience that I have had with service learning that I hope to recreate in one of my future classrooms, was in in 4th grade. Every month my teacher would walk us down to the local nursing home and we would simply spend time with the residents. The teacher simply prepared us by saying that some of the folks there had a few memory problems (such as Alzheimer's) and to simply ignore it if they repeat themselves too often. As 4th graders, we benefited from this experience because we got to interact with some amazing people and listen to their stories and advice. As an elderly person, I later learned that they are not always visited by their families and can be lonely. It opened my eyes at a young age that the elderly are not always respected or treated well.