Transforming Educational Curriculum and Service Learning

K ahne and Westheimer (1996) posed a provocative question when they asked, "In the service of what?" They argued that service learning that merely supports the values of civic responsibility with­ out linking community involvement with a deeper understanding of societal issues, is called charity, not social change. At the same time, educators advocating curriculum transformation (hooks, 1994) have called for curriculum that is not only more reflective of the diver­ sity of our nation and world, but makes visible the entrenched systems of inequity that pervade our society. Service learning has been recognized as a method of preparing students for active community participa­ tion, teaching course content in an applied way, and linking the campus to the broader community (Astin,1996; Smith, 1994). Several writers have explic­ itly advocated service learning experiences as opportu­ nities for students to examine their roles as members of a diverse society (Battistoni, 1995). However, "multi­ cultural experiences do not necessarily lead to a 'mul­ ticultural attitude'.... Students...often draw on deeplyingrained stereotypes, media images, and previous experiences unless they are encouraged to consider new experiences from an academically-informed per­ spective" (Cone & Harris, 1996, p. 32). Further, if stu­ dents are not aware of the ways in which their own identities shape how they see the world and how oth­ ers perceive them, they may not be equipped to partic-