creating positive internship experiences a collaborative approach
TRANSCRIPT
CREATING POSITIVE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES
A Collaborative Approach
Presenters
Middle School Counselor, North Pines Middle School
Eleven years of experience as a middle school counselor
Supervised six interns, working with two different university programs
Lecturer, Gonzaga University, School Counseling Program
23 years as a high school counselor
Supervised sixteen interns during that time from three different universities
Lisa Cleveland Mona Griffin
Audience Questions
How many of you have had an intern? How many of you feel that you are
veterans as supervisors of interns? Were your experiences as a supervisor
positive . . .? Negative . . .? Neutral . . .? What do you hope to gain from your
time with us?
Why have an intern?
Pay it forward concept Requires the supervisor to be more
reflective Benefits to the school
Can accomplish more Interns can help with data Collaboration opportunities if the counselor
works in isolation Making connections with university
personnel and programs
Why have an intern?
High quality placement experiences are scarce
Benefits to the university Making connections with schools and school
districts Collaboration with school personnel in the
field, doing the work
Key Players
University supervisor Building supervisor Intern Building principal In some cases, central office personnel In some cases, counselor colleagues
Certification requirements
State (WAC 181-78A-315) Practicum—no specific time stated
(Gonzaga—100 hours) Internship—400 hours (Gonzaga—600
hours) CACREP
Process
The university typically has some type of memorandum of understanding about their relationship with the district allowing interns to be placed
Some districts require central office approval and some allow university personnel to go directly to school counselor supervisors
Document that reflects a formal agreement should exist somewhere
Supervisor can create an interview process for the prospective intern; this is essential when multiple institutions are vying for placement options
Supervisor Training
University personnel can partner with veteran/experienced school supervisors to provide a workshop for potential new supervisors and those who want to be better supervisors—offer clock hours!
Increase the number and quality of supervisors that interns have access to!
Realities of School Culture
Examples Group work Classroom management issues Relationships with other educational
professionals
Potential Issues/Barriers
Competing interests—how many university programs in the geographical area are placing students in school setting?
Highly qualified supervisors Current economic climate—who is
hiring?
Potential Issues/Barriers
Work space Lack of understanding on the student’s part
of school culture Supervisor feeling intimidated by university
expectations and state requirements Technology
Hardware Access
“Letting go . . .”
Bumps in the Road
What happens if it isn’t working? Examples
Lisa Mona
Intern should be the FIRST to know—then communication must occur between the university supervisor and the school supervisor
Plan of improvement can be developed, if necessary
Final consideration should be given to removal of the student from the school placement
Activity
Summary
Are there any questions/concerns that we didn’t address?
Thinking back to the beginning of the session, did we meet your expectations of this presentation?
Contact information: Mona Griffin Lisa Cleveland
Closing
Thanks to all of you today who came to this session—we encourage you to “pay it forward” so that others can join this exciting and rewarding profession!