Where are the Opportunities for Social Mobilization?
Greenleaf spoke of another fault with educational systems within the scope of servant leadership:
the lack of opportunities for the poor to be prepared to return to their roots and become leaders among the disadvantaged. He says: this rests upon the belief that the situation of the poor, particularly the neglect of their children, is a national disgrace in our affluent country.......the best service that a school can render to these people may not be to homogenize them into the upper classes but to help those who have a value orientation that favors it to develop their ability to lead their people to secure a better life for many."
Two questions come to mind as I read this: 1) How would Greenleaf respond to how much more affluency there is today than when he first published this essay 30 years ago?; and 2) How much more of a national disgrace is it today compared to 30 years ago?
Much of the problem, it seems, is not as much that there are not opportunities for the poor to be prepared as leaders (although this certainly is a problem); the problem is that college students today are burdened with so much debt that they do not have the option to return to their roots and become leaders - they must go out into the world to service their debt rather than service society. Our current system of loans and debts in order to graduate from college has, in essence, made students slaves to money.
the lack of opportunities for the poor to be prepared to return to their roots and become leaders among the disadvantaged. He says: this rests upon the belief that the situation of the poor, particularly the neglect of their children, is a national disgrace in our affluent country.......the best service that a school can render to these people may not be to homogenize them into the upper classes but to help those who have a value orientation that favors it to develop their ability to lead their people to secure a better life for many."
Two questions come to mind as I read this: 1) How would Greenleaf respond to how much more affluency there is today than when he first published this essay 30 years ago?; and 2) How much more of a national disgrace is it today compared to 30 years ago?
Much of the problem, it seems, is not as much that there are not opportunities for the poor to be prepared as leaders (although this certainly is a problem); the problem is that college students today are burdened with so much debt that they do not have the option to return to their roots and become leaders - they must go out into the world to service their debt rather than service society. Our current system of loans and debts in order to graduate from college has, in essence, made students slaves to money.
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