Essay On Service Learning Observation

For my service learning placement, I am giving time to the guidance counselor, Mr. Berns, at Orchard Hill Elementary. His job works with children in kindergarten to sixth grade. He provides support to others through difficult situations, supplements education on living a healthy mental and emotional lifestyle, and addresses any issues that are causing a barrier to a student’s everyday learning. Although I have only been volunteering here for a few weeks, I believe I have had the opportunity to witness two theories acquired through class content. These practices are the most applicable to the audience and the needs being addressed at my organization. During our time together, Mr. Berns always makes a point to let me ask him questions about his position. I have held several conversations with him about what it is like to work with students so young. Before visiting with him, I had assumed that he would be in frequent contact with parents, guardians, and other family members. As I expected, my inference was correct. He stated that he talks to families every day about a variety of issues.
For example, I was assisting him in selecting educational …show more content…
Mr. Berns knows that he needs to be conscious of the factors that go into these self-images. Therefore, I think that Cooley’s (1902) Looking Glass Self theory is widely applicable at Orchard Hill. This idea states that, “the development of our identity is shaped by others’ views of us” (Kinsella, 2010). Therefore each students’ basic beliefs of who they are stemmed from who their family has built them up to be or lack thereof. In this sense, if a student is consistently told that they are intelligent, capable, and hard-working, they will be more likely to succeed in classroom tasks. On the other hand, a child who is told that they are incompetent, ill-equipped, and lazy is at greater risk for failure to reach a positive