Community
Service
The
need for change in the public school educational system has been addressed
by many educators and authors explaining everything that is wrong and what
should be done about it. We see this everyday in the students by
their boredom, listlessness, and increasing need to have entertainment in order
to function. As John Gatto, a former New York City Teacher, states
in his article, “Against School: How
Public Education Cripples our Kids, and Why,” that “Mass schooling of a
compulsory nature...got its teeth into the United States,” and that there
was a “threefold” purpose: “1) To make good people. 2) To make good citizens.
3) To make each person his or her personal best.” To help students become productive “people,
citizens, and their personal best” a community service program should be
implemented into school curriculum as a required course before graduating.
John
Gatto began his article telling us that, “I taught for thirty years in some of
the worst schools in Manhattan…I became an expert in boredom.” He goes
on to say, "if you asked the kids, as I often did, why they felt so bored,
they always gave the same answers: They said the work was stupid, that it made
no sense, that they already knew it. They said they wanted to be doing
something real, not just sitting around." Boredom is the source of many students
downfall in this society. When they are sitting around doing nothing, many
times they think of naughty things to do. When they are engaged with
productivity, then they start to feel a sense of belonging, a part of
something, and feel good about themselves. Community service is the
ticket to take away from these doldrums. From past observations of children
through adults, when working at something, their minds stop focusing on themselves
and the useless, unproductive feeling that comes with “boredom.”
Another
issue with the system is that the teachers need more involvement with their
students other than just giving information and expecting the students to just
memorize it. In his book Pedagogy of the
Oppressed “The Banking Concept of Education” chapter 2, Paolo Freire, a 20th
century educator and philosopher, tells us that, “Those truly committed to
liberation must reject the banking concept [teachers give the information and
the students receive it in] in its entirety, adopting instead a concept of men
as conscious beings…They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making
and replace it with the posing of the problems of men in their relations with
the world.” When students are out in the community working with others and
doing for others such as: working for the county picking up trash, going to
nursing homes and reading to the elderly, planting flowers for the Rotary Club,
or helping the Chamber of Commerce with fund raisers, along with their teachers
who are guiding them or giving them ideas, then they are learning what the
"problems of men in their relations to the world" are, as stated
above. The teachers and students would be working together forming a bond with
each other and those in the community. They become thinkers and doers, taking
action to help with progress.
According to Jerry Large, columnist
for The Seattle Times, in his article titled “Gift of Grit, Curiosity Help Kids Succeed,” Paul Tough author of “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and
the Hidden Power of Character,” says that “Tough pulls together research
and real-world experiences that indicate the relentless pursuit of higher test
scores…..if you want success, build character and the rest will follow.” He
continues with, “Grit is one of the characteristics of successful people.
Here’s a list of the others: self-control, zest, social intelligence,
gratitude, optimism, and curiosity.” There is no better way to build character
than to get out there, working in the community and serving others. It is not only building character but very
humbling and eye opening to see that the community needs our next generation to
know how to work and be part of making a successful community and world. Community service builds that “grit” it takes
to succeed in life. Andrew Tennyson,
author, wrote an article “Types of Community Service Projects.” He names several;
one was “Youth Projects” involving “Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H clubs.” If you’re
not in a club, which many kids are not, then you can help with “bottle drives
or litter collection…bringing together the young and aging can be mutually
beneficial.” He went on to talk about “Disaster Relief, Neighborhood Projects,
National and Internal, and Community Service Work”. He said that, “Some schools also require
students to perform community service as part of their credit requirements.” To
have community service as part of their credit requirements would mean that
they would be forced to get out there and get the “grit” that it takes to
become “good people, good citizens, and their personal best.”
In
the article, A Real
Education, written by Barry Boyce, editor in chief of Mindful: Taking
Time for What Matters magazine, he says, "listen attentively to what
someone is saying, negotiate, and confidently persuade; think through problems
effectively while considering others' perspectives."
There
are many activities in our community that could use the help of students and
their teachers. Habitat for Humanity has a program that helps lower income
people to build their homes. A person
has to qualify for the program and then help with the building of their
home. While their home is getting built
they help others with their homes. So it
is a type of passing forward for the future.
Students can learn many skills through this program: learning to listen to a boss, being the gofer
and cleanup laborer, responsibility, initiative, plus the benefit of a job
skill. Students need to have a job skill
to enter into the work force. A job
skill that will benefit our community and future, where the student will “listen
attentively” and “think through problems.”
Teaching Critical Thinking:
Practical Wisdom a book written by bell hooks, an American author, feminist, and social
activist, she states that, "Thinking is an action" and
"the heartbeat of critical thinking is the longing to know-to understand
how life works. Children are organically predisposed to be critical
thinkers"(7). When students are given responsibility they are more apt to
think through the problem and become a problem solver. Critical thinking develops and matures
students physically, mentally, and spiritually.
When asked to step up to the plate, most students at first, would balk
on it, but after taking on responsibility it matures them and helps them to
become decent and well balanced human beings. University of Michigan did research on What Are The Benefits of
Service Learning? They state that, “Service learning benefits numerous
parties, from the schools to the agencies to the communities and society (Civic Literacy Project 2002), but
overall, it is the students who need and receive the most gain.” The article
continues stating the many benefits of community or “service learning” one of
which was “Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills,” citing researcher Diane Hedin, that “When
students are given the opportunities and responsibilities of decision making in
a task that is interesting and important to them, they tend to think more
deeply about the issues at hand and ‘use their most complex thinking skills’
(Hedin 1989) to solve the problem.” That is so true. They will step up to the plate and learn to
be real problem solvers.
There are possible objections to
adding a community service program. Funding and time. Where would the money come from and who has
the time to start this type of program? That’s an easy solution. Incorporate it into the classes that are already
required. A teacher could take one day
out of the week for getting the students together and go to the local food bank
and hand out groceries. Of course, it would take some prep time and a phone
call to the local food bank and the gas to get there. But the benefits would out way the cost.
Another objection could be that it
is the responsibility of the parents to get their kids involved with the
community. A lot of parents have gotten
their kids involved with community service, many through Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, and 4-H Clubs. They are
wonderful programs and to be greatly commended for what they do. In addition to
those clubs, our schools, need to have a community service program to fill in
the gap for those students whose parents don’t put them in the other clubs. What
better way to build good character, make great citizens and future leaders of
our community and world. It can’t be said enough: To help
students become “good people, good citizens, and make each student his or her
personal best” a community service program should be implemented into school
curriculum and be a required course before graduation.
Works Cited
Boyce, Barry. "A Real Education." Shambala Sun. The Mindful Society. (75) May 2012
Freire, Paolo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2007.
Gatto, John. "Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, and Why." Harper's Magazine. September 2003.
Hedin, Diane. "The Power of Community Service." Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science. 1989.
hooks, bell. "Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom." Routledge. 16 September 2009.
Large, Jerry. "Gift of Grit, Curiosity Help Kids Succeed." Seattle Times. Seattle Times, 23 September 2012.
Tennyson, Andrew. "Types of Community Service Projects." eHow Contributer. Web.
Tough, Paul. "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character." Houghton Mifflin Harcort Publishing Company. 2012. Print.
University of Michigan. "What are the Benefits of Service Learning." Civic Literacy Project. 2002.
