Learning in the Plural: Essays on the Humanities and Public Life

Reading, Writing, and Reflection (1998)

33 reading, writing, and reflection () “What really irked me about Betty’s decision,” Rudy writes in his journal, “was that it should have been an editorial decision based on layout, design balance, etc. Instead, it was based on a phony rationale. The incident had an adverse effect on my outlook towards service at the Center.” Rudy explains: When Betty and I discussed the final edits for the newsletter, she also explained to me that there was to be a change in the layout. [U.S.] Senator [Spencer] Abraham would not have his picture included in his story [about renaissance zones in Michigan]. Another individual, Flint Mayor Woodrow Stanley, had just sent a photo of himself to accompany his article. Mayor Stanley happens to be Black. Since Newt Gingrich’s photo was already running with his story [on the Earning by Learning program Gingrich founded for inner-city youngsters], it would be “more balanced” if we ran a photo of the Black gentleman and withheld Abraham’s, providing an element of diversity. . . . I am simply tired of hearing we should/should not do something based on the color of a person ’s skin. This type of action does nothing to advance the fight against Learning in the Plural 34 discrimination. It is a way for those in charge to give the appearance of a diversified newsletter. . . . This one incident affected my outlook on the service I was doing. As part of a required service-learning component for his generaleducation writing class, Rudy chose an assignment as newsletter assistant at his university’s outreach office for community and economic development, where he works closely with Betty editing articles that appear in the center ’s monthly newsletter. The community placements chosen for students in Rudy’s class were carefully selected as good sites for “real time” writing projects that address tangible and responsive audiences and link writing in a field of the student’s choosing—in Rudy’s case, public administration— with formal classroom-based writing activities and instruction. In addition to writing for an agency, students are required to keep a written journal record that functions both as further writing practice and, more important, as opportunities for students to reflect critically and systematically on their service experiences. In his next journal entry Rudy relates an incident that has no ostensible bearing on diversity policy. At the prompting of his teacher, Rudy chooses instead to write about Betty herself, seeking some insight into her personality and the character of her commitment. As we were leaving the Center last Tuesday so that Betty could give me a ride home, the family that lives next door to the center arrived home. They were obviously an economically disadvantaged family, since they lived in a less affluent part of the city. As Betty was getting in the car, the little girl from next door called her name and came racing over. Immediately Betty gave the little girl a big hug, and asked about her day at school, etc. This scene may have had nothing to do with my work, and it may have been just a minor event in the grand scheme of things, but it touched me. Here was a woman that was so compassionate and caring, and here was a little girl who respected and appreciated this relationship so much. It really gave me a bit of insight into Betty’s nature. It became clear why she was working at the center. She was inherently a person with Reading, Writing, and Reflection 35 a great deal of love to give. That’s simply a part of her make-up, and it was evidenced by this scene. One could tell that Betty truly believed that nothing, not even a poor economic situation, could hinder this young girl’s future. And I think I felt the same. Even though Rudy takes pains to point out that the scene in the driveway “may have had nothing to do with my [actual] work,” it still has powerful resonance for his attitude toward service and the legitimacy of his service-learning assignment at the Center. Indirectly, even covertly, Rudy’s discovery of the depth and authenticity of Betty’s commitment to her work surely complicates, as his teacher may have hoped, that attitude of certainty he had earlier used to dismiss Betty’s editorial decision as partisan, ideologically driven, and politically motivated. STRUCTURING CRITICAL REFLECTION The journals that...