A Time to Serve, A Time to Learn: Service- Learning and the Promise of Democracy

Kielsmeier, J.C. (2008). A time to serve, a time to learn. Phi Delta Kappan, 81, 652-8.

Summary:

This Summary is in response to an article entitled "A time to serve, a time to learn." The article is written by the president of the National Youth Movement Organization to persuade Schools to take an even greater step towards Service Learning Training and Enactment. The author suggests that most youth when given the opportunity will take part in community service. This often includes feeding the homeless, teaching, the environment and health care. Students seem to be more disillusioned with the political realm of community service as they fail to see the immediate affect of such activism.

Other efforts have also fostered growth in service learning. Bills passed by Congress allocating both time and resources towards service learning has led to a sharp rise in participation. The NYLC (National Youth Leadership Council has also facilitated staff development, curriculum design and advocacy for state and national service. Major donations from Private Corporations have also led to a sharp rise in the service learning trend.

The author also points out that when students are actively involved in the decision making process for the school and curriculum design, they are more invested in the final outcome. For example, they feel more equipped to answer the question, "What are we going to do about it?"

For service learning to continue its popularity, it needs to do the following: emphasize "well- defined" practice, staff development, pre- service training for teachers and better research. Students, the author further contends need to be the "creators" of curriculum rather than "receptacles."

I agree for the most part with the assertions made by Mr. Kielsmeier. The time is ripe for service learning. With the mass dissemination and feasibility of global movements, it is simply irresponsible not to become involved. As society shifts towards mass production, we seem to have drifted away from active participation and citizenship. The central focus becomes more "what can you produce?" rather than "what can you preserve?" I believe preservation to be the cornerstone of affective citizenship. We need to ensure equity for all sectors of society- especially the disenfranchised. When service learning becomes embedded within the niches of school design, students will be more ready to solve the problems of the future.

Notable Quotes:

"Service- learning starts with the pre-supposition that the primary purpose of education can no longer be socialization, standardization, and synchronization- the shaping of students into clearly defined roles for a predictable future. Rather, in a world marked by pluralism, uncertainty, and variability, we need to move from the idea of students as receptacles, to students as creators, disseminators and iplemnters of knowledge." (657)

"Service- learning is the equivalent of an "education common"- a pedagogical meeting place whose origins and principles are shared by a wide range of American and international cultural communities." (655)

"Student- driven and locally flavored service- learning is a coalescing force for the cornucopia of American ethnic, spiritual, and cultural diversity." (654)

"As students enter classrooms to teach other students, as they research their past and make contributions to history, as they bring visibility and change to an environmental issue, they are citizens today." (652)

Text sources:

Michelle Collay et al. Learning Circles: Creating Conditions for Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, 1998, pg. 31-61.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury Press, 1973.