Content and Organization of Educational E-Portfolios 31
Conclusion 32
For Your E-Portfolio 32
Questions for Further Thought and Discussion 34
References 34
Chapter 2
Getting Acquainted
Getting to Know Your Agency 38
37
Getting to Know Your Co-Workers 38
Understanding Your Role in the Organization 40
Learning About the Agency’s Mission, Goals, Objectives, and Strategies 41
Learning About the Agency’s Organizational Structure 44
Learning About Agency Funding 46
Learning About the Agency’s Network 51
Learning About Your Client Groups 53
Learning About the Context of Your Organization 55
Getting to Know the Community 55
Understanding Your Agency’s Social Policy Context 61
Conclusion 70
For Your E-Portfolio 70
Questions for Further Thought and Discussion 72
References 72
Chapter 3
Developing Ethical Competence
An Overview 76
75
Competency 1: Understanding the Ethical and Legal Foundations of the Profession 77
Ethical Standards of the Human Service Profession 77
Legal Issues and Standards of the Profession 80
Competency 2: Understanding the Values and Ideals That Guide Responsible Human Services Practice 81
Competency 3: Recognizing the Ethical, Legal, and Values Issues Your Work 83
Competency 4: Making Ethical Decisions and Weighing Competing Values and Ethical Principles 89
Ethical Decision-Making Models 89
Weighing Competing Values and Ethical Principles 93
Maintaining Appropriate Professional Boundaries 95
Maintaining Appropriately Open Boundaries 98
Guarding Against Dual and Multiple Relationships 100
Conclusion 104
For Your E-Portfolio 105
Questions for Further Thought and Discussion 106
References 107
Chapter 4
Learning to Learn from Experience: Understanding Learning Styles and The Integrative Processing Model 109
Understanding Your Preferred Learning Style 109
The Role of Reflection and Critical Thinking in Learning from Experience 115
The Integrative Processing Model 116
Step 1: Gathering Objective Data from Concrete Experience 118
Step 2: Reflecting 119
Step 3: Identifying Relevant Theory and Knowledge 121
Step 4: Examining Dissonance 123
Step 5: Articulating Learning 125
Step 6: Developing a Plan 126
Applying the Integrative Processing Model 128
Step 1: Gathering Objective Data from Concrete Experience 128
Step 2: Reflecting 128
Step 3: Identifying Relevant Theory and Knowledge 128
Step 4: Examining Dissonance 129
Step 5: Articulating Learning 129
Step 6: Developing a Plan 129
Step 1: Gathering Objective Data from Concrete Experience 130
Step 2: Reflecting 131
Step 3: Identifying Relevant Theory and Knowledge 131
Step 4: Examining Dissonance 132
Step 5: Articulating Learning 132
Step 6: Developing a Plan 133
Conclusion 133
For Your E-Portfolio 134
Question for Further Thought and Discussion 135
References 135
Chapter 5
Using Supervision 137
Understanding the Supervisory Relationship 138
Supervision and Learning Styles 139
Supervisor Characteristics 142
Student Characteristics 144
Working Within the Supervisory Relationship 147 Supervision Is a Planned Contact 147
Supervision Is Prepared For 147
Supervision Involves Discussing Professional Issues 148
Supervision Includes Planning 148
Supervision Generates Feedback 149
Conclusion 153
For Your E-Portfolio 153
Questions for Further Thought and Discussion 155
References 155
Chapter 6
Communicating in Your Internship
The Basic Skills 157
Values and Attitudes 158
Active Listening 160
Client Interviewing 161
Exploration Skills 164
Action Skills 164
157
The Content and Direction of Communication: Considering the Strengths-Based Perspective 166
Working with Individuals, Families, Groups, and Communities 169
Working with Individuals 169
Working with Reluctant Clients 169
Case Management and Advocacy 172
Working with Families 175
Working with Groups 179
Working with Communities 184
Community Education 186
Community Organization 189
Political Engagement and Advocacy 192
Agency Administration as Community Practice 194
Conclusion 196
For Your E-Portfolio 196
Questions for Further Thought and Discussion 197
References 197
Chapter 7
Developing Cultural Competence
An Overview 200
Understanding Concepts Related to Diversity 202
Experiencing Diverse Groups 203
Increasing Your Knowledge of Multiple Cultures 205
Gaining Awareness of Your Own Culture 207
Decreasing Ethnocentrism 210
199
Understanding Biculturalism as an Adaptive Mechanism 212
Understanding Social Location 214
Understanding Power Differentials 217
Understanding Agency Culture 219
Considering Prejudice, Discrimination, and You 220
Conclusion 222
For Your E-Portfolio 222
Questions for Further Discussion 224
References 224
Chapter 8
Writing and
Reporting
Within Your Field Agency 227
Writing in Human Service Settings 228
Written Reports Related to Direct Services to Clients 230
Purposes of Documentation 230
Ground Rules for Documentation 232
Common Types of Written Reports Regarding Direct Client Care 233
Confidentiality and Technology in Written Communication and Reports 239
Written Reports Related to Administrative Services 241
Annual Reports 242
Process Evaluation Reports 242
Outcome Evaluations 243
Reports to the Board of Directors 244
Funding Requests 245
Public Relations 246
Oral Reporting and Presentations 248
Conclusion 250
For Your E-Portfolio 250
Questions for Further Reflection and Discussion 251
References 252
Chapter 9
Taking Care of Yourself
Developing Self-Awareness 254
Developing Self-Understanding 255
Developing Assertiveness 256
253
Developing Conflict Resolution Skills 258
Developing Positive Self-Talk 261
Developing Self-Control 264
Learning to Manage Your Stress and Caring for Yourself 265
Intensity of Experience over the Past Month 266
Practicing Mindfulness 269
Changing Attitudes and Beliefs 270
Shifting Focus 270
Maintaining a Balance Between Your Work Life and Your Personal Life 273
Keeping Safe 278
Conclusion 281
For Your E-Portfolio 282
Questions for Further Thought and Reflection 283
References 283
Chapter 10
Ending Your Internship 287
Evaluating Your Performance 288
Understanding the Final Evaluation 288
Preparing for Your Evaluation 290
The Field Supervisor’s Perspective 291
The Evaluation Conference 292
The Faculty Liaison’s Perspective 294
Leaving Your Internship 295
General Guidelines for Positive Termination 296
Be Aware of Your Previous Experiences and Patterns with Terminations 296 Be Self-Aware, Recognizing Your Needs and Wants (Baird, 2011; Welfel & Patterson, 2005) 297 Reflect Upon and Deal with Your Feelings (Corey & Corey, 2011; Levine, 2013; Okun & Krantowitz, 2008) 298
Acknowledge the Progress and the Changes That You Have Made (Baird, 2011; Okun & Kranowitz, 2008; Royse, Dhooper, & Rompf, 2012) 300
Saying Good-Bye to Your Supervisor 301
Saying Good-Bye to Your Clients 303
Transferring Your Work 307
Termination Rituals 308
Conclusion 310
For Your E-Portfolio 310
Questions for Further Thought and Discussion 311
References 311
Chapter 11
Planning Your Career
313
Where Are You Now? Thinking About the “Answered Questions” 314
Where Are You Now? Thinking About the “Unanswered Questions” 317
Where Are You Going? Clarifying Your Career Goals 319
Achieving Your Career Goals 321
Basic Steps in Career Development 324
Step 1: Clarifying Long-Term Goals as Distinct from Short-Term Goals or Intermediate Goals 324
Step 2: Doing Your Research (For a Job or an Advanced Academic Program) 325
Step 3: Conducting a Job Search 328
Establishing and Maintaining Networks 328
Developing a Resume 329
Writing Effective Letters 332
Developing Interviewing Skills 334
Maintaining a Positive Outlook 337
Conclusion 338
For Your E-Portfolio 338
Questions for Further Reflection and Discussion 339
References 339
Preface
To the Instructor
Welcome to the fourth edition of The Human Services Internship: Getting the Most from Your Experience. Like the previous editions, this book is designed for use by students and instructors who are engaged in the challenging experience of fieldwork in human service agencies. The book is organized around the key issues that students encounter in human service internships. These range from theoretical content areas such as cultural competence and ethical decision making to more personal challenges such as taking care of yourself as a human service intern and professional.
My work on this fourth edition has taken on added significance in light of current developments in higher education that have identified internships as a “high-impact practice” (Kuh, 2008) that can “lead to higher levels of student performance, learning, and development than traditional classroom experiences” (Brownell & Swaner, 2010). Simply completing an internship, however, is not sufficient in and of itself to create these positive outcomes. Data on high-impact practices thus far demonstrate that internships “ must be done well ” (Kuh, 2008, 20, italics in original) to make these significant impacts on student learning and development. Though still very much in its infancy, research on high-quality internships suggests that the approaches taken in this text are on target to deliver high-quality, high-impact internships. For example, the text’s emphasis on integrating knowledge with real world experiences; on intensive reflection, analysis, and critical thinking throughout the experience; and on opportunities for rich discussion and feedback in interactions with both faculty and peers are consistent with what we know about the necessary components of a high-quality internships (Kuh, 2008; Nelson, Laird, Shoup, Kuh, & Schwartz, 2008; O’Neill, 2010). These findings reinforce the hopes I have always had for this text. As with previous editions, I hope you find that the “teachable moments” of your students’ internships become even more powerful through the timely presentation of relevant information and critical reflection offered here. I hope you find that your students are able to integrate knowledge and experience more effectively through the use of this text. I hope you find that they experience significant personal and professional growth through the intensive reflection and analysis that this book encourages. If you have suggestions as to how I might modify this text to reach these goals more effectively, I appreciate and invite your comments.
New to This Edition
If you are familiar with the third edition, you will note a number of changes in this latest version. From beginning to end, all topics have been updated with the most
current information and relevant scholarship. Chapter 1, Getting Started, updates information about the technology involved in developing e-portfolios and provides information and resources pertinent to issues involved in paid vs unpaid internships. Chapter 2, Getting Acquainted, has greatly expanded content related to agency budgets, macro-practice settings, and the international reach of contemporary human service organizations. In Chapter 3, Developing Ethical Competence, the discussion of ethical issues in internships has been extended to include current information and research related to the topic and provides updated frameworks for and perspectives on ethical decision making. Chapter 4, Learning to Learn from Experience: Understanding Learning Styles and The Integrative Processing Model, previously focused exclusively on the Integrative Processing Model, now places this content in the broader context of student learning styles and engages students in exploring their own specific learning styles and the potential impact of these styles on their internship experiences. Chapter 5, Using Supervision, is similarly modified to discuss how learning styles come into play in the supervisory process. Chapter 6, Communicating in Your Internship, has greatly expanded content related to macro-practice roles, including community education, community organization, political engagement and advocacy, and agency administration as community practice. Chapter 7, Developing Cultural Competence, provides updated demographic information and places greater emphasis on issues of prejudice, discrimination, and oppression as compared with earlier editions. Chapter 8, Writing and Reporting Within Your Field Agency, now includes formats for both the SOAP and the DAP approaches to documentation as well as more current perspectives on various forms of administrative reports. Throughout the chapter, more attention is given to the role of technology in writing and reporting in human service agencies. Chapter 9, Taking Care of Yourself, in this edition includes a discussion of mindfulness practice as a self-care strategy. Recent scholarship and perspectives on burnout and worker safety also have been added to this chapter. Chapter 10, Ending Your Internship, guides students through the process of attending to their own issues as the internship comes to an end (e.g., the evaluation process and their own emotional reactions to termination) while also being professionally attuned to the needs and perspectives of those with whom they have developed relationships during the experience (e.g., clients, their supervisor, coworkers). Chapter 11, Planning Your Career, has been revised to reflect the role of the Internet, social media, and other technologies in securing a job. Beyond these updates, some of the content from previous editions has been reorganized. For example, information about making oral presentations, which was previously in Chapter 8, Writing and Reporting, has now been incorporated into the discussion of “Community Education” in Chapter 6 Communicating in Your Internship.
New to every chapter in this edition are “Questions for Further Thought and Discussion” at the end of each chapter. The many exercises in the chapters prompt individual student reflection, and I encourage faculty to draw upon these exercises as springboards for group discussions in the internship seminar class as well. The new “Questions for Further Thought and Discussion” feature provides additional prompts for use in class, often taking a broader view than is represented in the in-chapter exercises. Recent scholarship on internship pedagogy suggests that learning in internships is enhanced when students have opportunities to discuss their experiences and thoughts with their peers. This new edition provides an abundance of material to stimulate these discussions.
Finally, many instructors will find useful a new addition to the Appendix of this fourth edition. There you will find a chapter analysis for the Council on Standards for Human Service Education Standards for both Bacculaureate and Associate degree programs. Each standard is listed in a convenient chart format along with the specific chapters of this fourth edition that include relevant content.
Features from Previous Editions
You will also note that the key strengths of the previous editions have been maintained. As has always been the case, the text is designed for students at any level in their educational programs, majors and non-majors alike, but is geared primarily to an undergraduate audience. Although it is written for students taking course work in human service education programs, it may be used to great advantage with any student engaged in fieldwork or internships in a human service agency, especially those in social science disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and social work as well as those in nonprofit management or other agency administration programs.
Because the structure and organization of field experiences vary broadly from program to program, the text is written with this is mind. Students will benefit from using it in course-linked fieldwork projects, one-month “mini-term” experiences, or longer half-semester, full-semester, or full-year practica and internships. The text is ideal for use in field seminar courses where various exercises and topics can be further discussed, but it may also be used fairly independently by students. Increasingly, distance internships are a part of many academic programs. In these experiences, students participate in internships anywhere in the country or even internationally while interacting with a faculty member and/or participating in the seminar online. This text is an excellent resource for students and faculty engaged in these distance field education experiences in which there is little or no face-to-face instructional time between faculty and students.
Finally, a word about terminology might be in order. Because academic programs use a variety of different terms to refer to their field experiences, I do the same in this book. I use the terms “internship” and “fieldwork” interchangeably throughout the text. Similarly and for the same reason, I use the terms “faculty liaison” and “faculty supervisor” interchangeably in referring to the role of the faculty member working with the student during the field experience.
Purpose
My purpose in creating this book has remained constant from the first edition through the fourth edition. My goal has always been to create a tool that will help students and faculty in the challenging, but potentially powerful, teaching and learning process presented by the internship experience. Students in their human service fieldwork are expected to meet multiple and complex objectives. As a faculty member working with internship students, my sense is that many teachable moments can be lost, or not fully exploited, when students are not prompted to think more deeply about their experiences as they relate to the extensive body of knowledge of the human service
field. The purpose of this text is to prompt students toward deeper thought than they might otherwise give their experiences. The goal of the text is to help students maximize their learning in every experience by providing information, structure, guidance, and coaching, empowering them to approach their work with greater thoughtfulness and confidence. Toward this end, the text is realistic, practical, and supportive in its approach.
During internships, students may be supervised closely by agency supervisors and staff but may have relatively little direct contact with faculty members and classmates as compared to their experiences in traditional classroom-based courses. Although internship students may be placed in rich learning environments and work under good supervision, the demands of the workday often preclude the opportunity for them to discuss their experiences on a daily basis. As a result, opportunities for learning all that they might from various experiences are sometimes missed. As an instructor of field-based courses, I have often wished that I could sit down with each of my students at the end of the day to discuss their experiences, call attention to important issues, raise questions, and help them draw upon the knowledge base of the profession to make sense of their experiences. Obviously, this is not possible. This text engages students in a similar process of thinking and reflection. In fact, with my own students, I sometimes refer to this book as “the professor in your pocket.” Without a text to accompany the internship, the task of transferring learning from the classroom to the world of work can be overwhelming, or even impossible, for many students. In the internship, students are asked to integrate their classroom/academic knowledge with their experiences in the field, drawing upon their mastery of that material and their ability to retrieve it sometime later. This book assists students in the challenging task of learning transfer by reviewing and updating key information related to core content areas that inevitably are pertinent in the field.
Since a common concern among faculty teaching field courses is how to help students with learning transfer, this text offers not only specific content that students need to draw upon in their internships, but also provides exercises that engage students in making those connections. These exercises, included in each chapter, take the student beyond the level of learning content and into critical thinking and active application of content to their own experiences. In addition, an entire chapter (Chapter 4) is devoted to issues related to metacognition, acquainting students with learning styles as they relate to the internship and teaching them a six-step critical thinking model to use in processing their experiences in their internships and throughout their careers.
The many exercises in the book have been classified into one of three types: Personal Reflection: Observation of Self and Others; Synthesis: Linking Knowledge and Experience; or Analysis. This categorization is an effort to highlight for students and faculty the nature of the predominant thought processes required by the exercise. Each chapter includes numerous exercises, but there is no expectation that students will complete all of the exercises in each chapter. Faculty are encouraged to select and assign the exercises that will best help their students achieve the learning goals of their academic program. Faculty also might consider asking students to jot brief notes in response to some of the exercises while requiring more thorough completion of others.
Each chapter of the book includes a prompt to stimulate students’ thinking about an appropriate electronic portfolio entry related to the topics discussed in the
chapter and an excerpt of a student entry in response to that prompt is also offered. Electronic portfolios are explained in some detail in Chapter 1. This feature of the book is designed to assist both faculty and students in academic programs that use electronic portfolios to encourage student reflection on their work and/or to assess student learning and growth. The use of e-portfolios has become particularly prevalent in assessing student learning outcomes at or near the end of an academic program. Because the internship is the capstone experience in many human service programs, it is a likely point for such assessment. As students have become more comfortable using electronic media, they often value the building of e-portfolios to highlight their best work and sometimes use these portfolios in their job searches, even when this is not required by their academic programs. Each e-portfolio prompt provides an opportunity for students to respond to the topic of the chapter as it relates to their own development in the internship. Faculty should, of course, feel free to adapt these prompts to the assessment processes and desired student learning outcomes of their own academic programs. Likewise, students who choose to develop portfolios through their own initiative should see the prompts as possible springboards for that project rather than as prescriptive assignments.
Philosophy and Approach to Experiential Learning
The text reflects certain assumptions about experiential education, about the role of writing in thinking, and about how students learn. The text assumes that while experiential education can be a powerful pedagogical approach, students often need to learn how to learn most effectively from experience. Although experience can be a good teacher, at times it may not teach very effectively in and of itself. Without careful thought, analysis, and reflection, students can easily draw erroneous conclusions and make incorrect inferences based on their experiences, just as they can misread or misinterpret a text. Experience is a powerful teacher that proves to be more effective when combined carefully with critical thinking, self-evaluation, and reflection. This text is designed to keep students engaged in this thinking process throughout their fieldwork.
Furthermore, the text requires students to “think on paper.” This feature is based on the premise that writing helps the thinker to think more clearly and precisely. In each chapter, students express their thoughts in writing in response to specific exercises. As students’ thoughts are expressed in writing and shared with the instructor, a fruitful dialogue can be initiated. Through reacting to the student’s written work, the instructor has regular opportunities to provide supportive assistance, corrective feedback, prompts toward further reflection, or other responses that can enhance the student’s learning.
Finally, the text is based on a philosophy of active, student-centered learning. Each chapter actively engages students by consistently bringing their experiences and thoughts into the discussion along with theoretical and academic content. The inclusion of examples of student work throughout each chapter enlivens the text by offering concrete examples of student experiences and reflections.
Content
The opening chapters of the book address practical matters in beginning the field experience, focusing on issues such as myths about internships, stages of internship development, guidelines for successfully completing the internship, development of a learning agreement (Chapter 1), and getting to know the field placement agency, its clients, its community, and its sociopolitical context (Chapter 2).
Beyond these initial, obvious entry points, the most advantageous ordering of the chapters becomes less clear. Therefore, faculty are encouraged to assign the chapters in the order that best fits their students’ learning needs. For example, students should be well-grounded in the ethics of the profession before beginning the internship. For those faculty teaching students who have been well prepared in the classroom on this topic, they might feel comfortable delving into the content related to ethics later in the term. But for those faculty whose students might be entering the internship from academic programs that have not yet emphasized this theme, Chapter 3, Developing Ethical Competence, should be assigned very early.
Another topic that is considered foundational for many faculty is a focus on how to learn in the internship. Chapter 4, Learning to Learn from Experience: Understanding Learning Styles and The Integrative Processing Model, and Chapter 5, Using Supervision, are dedicated to this goal. Chapter 4 introduces students to important information about student learning styles and focuses on the cognitive processes involved in learning from experience. This chapter also introduces students to a six-step model (The Integrative Processing Model) that they can use in thinking through their experiences in the field. The model, my original work, provides a useful framework for helping students extract maximum learning and personal growth from their experiences. In summary, this model calls upon students to observe their experiences carefully, reflect on their personal reactions, identify and apply relevant knowledge, identify dissonance (i.e., points of discomfort or conflict that might include ethical dilemmas, conflicts between theoretical points of view, etc.), articulate their learning from the experience, and make plans for next steps in their work and in their learning. Using the Integrative Processing Model not only helps students learn more during their fieldwork but also teaches them a method for thinking through their experiences that can serve them well throughout their careers. Chapter 5 then broadens this conversation as learning styles and carefully thinking through field experiences are discussed as key aspects of supervision. Therefore, both Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 might be assigned as a unit early in the experience, even before the experience begins, so that students can enter their field placements with a better understanding of themselves as learners and a better understanding of how to work with their supervisors productively.
Chapters 6 through 9 deal with key skills that human services professionals must develop. Chapter 6, Communicating in Your Internship, helps students think carefully about the various communication skills they are drawing upon in their internship experiences as they work with individuals, families, groups, and communities. Similarly, there are chapters devoted to developing cultural competence (Chapter 7), preparing oral and written reports (Chapter 8), and self-care skills (Chapter 9) that are so important for students and beginning professionals to develop in order to ensure long and productive careers. Since Chapter 9, Taking Care of Yourself, focuses on critical content to help students manage their stress and their emotions throughout the internship experience, faculty are encouraged to consider carefully the needs of their
particular students in this area. This chapter can and should be assigned earlier in the experience if the faculty member considers it likely that the students might struggle with issues such as stress, personal and professional boundaries, and/or safety in their internships. Chapter 9, although placed toward the end of the book, offers information that many students might benefit from accessing either prior to the start of the internship or very shortly after it begins in order to cope most effectively with the emotional demands of the experience.
The final chapters of the text move toward providing closure for the student as the internship draws to a conclusion. Chapter 10 focuses on processes involved in ending the internship, including both evaluation and termination. Chapter 11 assists students in making the transition into life after the internship through a focus on career planning.
As this discussion makes clear, in some cases the chapters in the text have been ordered in a way that reflects the stages of the internship’s development. Chapters 1 through 5, for example, focus on topics that will help students get a good start in the internship, whereas Chapters 10 and 11 focus on bringing it to a satisfactory close. Other chapters, such as Chapter 6, Communicating in Your Internship; Chapter 7, Developing Cultural Competence; Chapter 8, Writing and Reporting Within Your Field Agency; and Chapter 9, Taking Care of Yourself are perhaps less clear in terms of their exact timing in the internship experience. In making decisions about how to order the chapters for maximum effectiveness, instructors are encouraged to consider the specific challenges students are encountering in their field experiences at a given point in time. Seizing opportunities when students are ready and eager to examine particular topics makes the learning offered in the text all the more powerful. As I myself use the book with my students, I try to remain flexible in how I order the chapters each semester, observing and listening closely to identify student questions, concerns, and needs along the way.
Throughout this book, content is included in the form of case studies and examples of various kinds. This material was inspired by more than 30 years of experience in working with students, colleagues, and clients in various contexts. In no case, however, does the book include information drawn directly from any particular individual’s story. The people with whom I have worked over the years have provided a rich history upon which to draw, but their struggles and situations appear in this book in very disguised, composite forms. Names, identities, situations, and details have been routinely altered to such an extent that no actual person or persons are depicted. Any likeness to the names and circumstances of real people is strictly coincidental.
References
Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: AAC&U
Nelson Laird, T. F., Shoup, R., Kuh, G. D., & Schwarz, M. J. (2008). The effects of discipline on deep approaches to student learning and college outcomes. Research in Higher Education, 49, 469–494.
O’Neill, N. (2010). Internships as high impact practice: Some reflections on quality. Peer Review, 12(4), 4–8.
CourseMate
CourseMate Available with the text, Cengage Learning’s CourseMate brings course concepts to life with interactive learning, study, and exam preparation tools that support the printed textbook. CourseMate includes an integrated eBook, glossaries, flashcards, quizzes, and more—as well as Engagement Tracker, a first-of-its-kind tool that monitors student engagement in the course.
Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge gratefully the contributions of many people who contributed to the successful creation of this fourth edition, especially my students at Elon University, who have taught me much of what I know about experiential education. The staff of PreMediaGlobal also provided excellent assistance in strengthening the final manuscript and moving the book into production. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the time and contributions of the following reviewers who made astute and insightful suggestions, adding significantly to the quality of the finished work: Alisabeth Buck, Tacoma Community College; Mary Di Giovanni, Northern Essex Community College; John Hancock, Fitchburg State College; Jeffrey Haber, Metropolitan State College of Denver; Paul Hand, Anna Maria College; Ed Neukrug, Old Dominion University; Theresa A. Bowman Downing, Thomas Edison State College; Mary Kay Kreider, St. Louis Community College–Meramec; Lynn McKinney, University of Rhode Island, for the first edition. For the second: Kathleen Conway, Wayne State College; Anita Vaillancourt, University of Northern British Columbia; and Keith Willis, Wayne State College. For the third edition: Ona Belser, SUNY Plattsburgh; Christine BorzumatoGainey, Elon University; Clyde Ibara, Chaminade University; Rita Ruhter, College of Southern Idaho; and Carla Strassle, York College of Pennsylvania. For the fourth edition: Ryan Hancock, Northwestern State University; Malik Henfield, University of Iowa; Diane Hodge, Radford University; Denice Liley, Boise State University; Janet Mason, College of Lake County; Charles Myers, Northern Illinois University; and Fedder Williams, South Piedmont Community College.
Introduction
One of the best ways to learn about human services and prepare yourself for a human service career is through fieldwork—that is, actually spending time in a human service agency engaged in its daily work. Most graduates of human service programs report that their field experiences were among the most important, valuable, and enjoyable parts of their professional preparation. As a student in a human service program, you have probably participated in other types of experiential education as well because learning from experience has always been heavily emphasized in human service education. Since human service education began in the 1970s, students have participated in simulations and case study analysis, group discussions have revolved around student field experiences, and extensive fieldwork has been required for degree completion. The National Standards for Human Service Worker Education and Training (Council for Standards in Human Service Education and Training [CSHSE], 2013) describes the field experience as an environment and context to integrate the knowledge, theory, skills, and professional behaviors that are concurrently being taught in the classroom. It must be an integral part of the education process” a process of experiential learning that integrates the knowledge, theory, skills, and professional behaviors that are concurrently being taught in the classroom (CSHSE, 2013, p. 10).
Human service programs vary in the structure of their field component. While all human service programs emphasize field experiences as critical components of student preparation, their duration, format, and timing in the overall education program can vary widely from one program to another. Despite the many variations found among human service field programs, you will probably find that your department’s program design includes some combination of the following components:
1. Students engage in fieldwork early in their academic program while enrolled in one or more related academic courses. This type of experience is often referred to as a field practicum or perhaps as a service-learning project.
2. Students engage in fieldwork at approximately the midpoint in the program, after having studied human service content in traditional academic courses. Field experience at this point is especially useful as it enables students to apply their previous theoretical learning to their fieldwork and then return to course work with greater understanding and insight based on direct experience in the field.
3. Students engage in fieldwork at or near the end of their academic program. This experience, often referred to as an internship, serves as a capstone experience, allowing students the opportunity to apply and test what they have learned in the classroom, as well as an opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills.
Despite the fact that human service students are nurtured and developed within such a tradition of active, experiential learning throughout their course of study, you may find that you are approaching your fieldwork with a sense of anxiety, concerned that you might not be sufficiently prepared. As one student expressed in a first session of field seminar, “What if I go into my internship and find out I don’t know anything? What if I fail?” Although this anxiety is an understandable and normal part of starting a new experience, in most cases there is little basis for this fear in reality. The foregoing discussion illustrates that students entering a field experience at any point during their human service program are not cast into the practice world without knowledge, information, or preparation for the task at hand.
Perhaps the greatest challenge for students in a human service field experience is not one of possessing knowledge but one of making use of that knowledge in practical ways. The field component is intended to be central to your learning, serving as an integrative experience in which you retrieve your previous learning and apply it to practice situations. This objective can be quite daunting, especially in view of the broad curriculum that you have probably studied within your human services program. Content in human service education covers a wide range of topics and skills, including, for example, information about special populations and human problems; theories of human behavior and human development; skills in working with individuals, families, groups, and organizations; professional ethics; cultural awareness and skills; and development of self-awareness. Despite its challenges, your task during your fieldwork is to make use of this material (and more), applying it accurately and skillfully to practice situations that you will encounter day to day. Through your field experience, your academic learning can come alive and take on new meaning as you see the connections between the knowledge and skills you have gained in the classroom and your “real-world” practice experiences while working in a human service agency. This dynamic connection between the academic and the practical makes fieldwork experiences in human services especially satisfying, interesting, and challenging.
With all of this in mind, the goals of this text are (1) to help you integrate theoretical and conceptual information with your experiences in the field, (2) to help you learn more from your experiences in the field by thinking extensively and carefully about those experiences, (3) to facilitate your personal and professional growth through a focus on self-awareness and critical reflection, and (4) to provide the information, structure, and coaching necessary for you to explore the relatively unfamiliar territory of a fieldwork experience with confidence. Toward these ends, you will find that the text includes useful information about every stage of the process from beginning the experience (Chapter 1, Getting Started) to ending the experience and moving on (Chapter 10, Ending Your Internship, and Chapter 11, Planning Your Career). Each chapter calls upon you to be an active learner, reacting to, applying, and reflecting upon the many ideas discussed. As you work through the material and exercises in the text, they will guide and support you through the various stages of your field experience, helping you to seize its opportunities, anticipate and avoid its potential pitfalls, and extract maximum learning and personal growth from your experiences.
The human service literature uses a variety of labels to refer to field experiences in human services. The terms practicum, fieldwork, and internship are frequently used to denote various types of field experiences. Nomenclature varies from program to program and has been the subject of much discussion in human services programs
(Simon, 1999). For the sake of clarity, fieldwork, field experience, and internship are the terms generally used in this book, and they are used interchangeably.
Now, as we embark on your fieldwork experience together, best wishes to you! Keep in mind what a privilege it is to be allowed the status of an “insider” within a professional organization. Be determined to use every opportunity to advance your learning and development as well as to serve others. These attitudes will set the stage for an unforgettable and invaluable learning experience.
References
Council on Standards for Human Service Education. (2013). National standards: Baccalaureate degree in human services. Retrieved from http://www.cshse.org/pdfs/Standards-Baccalaureate.pdf Simon, E. (1999). Field practicum: Standards, criteria, supervision, and evaluation. In H. Harris & D. Maloney (Eds.), Human services: Contemporary issues and trends (2nd ed., pp. 79–96). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Author Bio
Pamela Myers Kiser holds a BA from Wake Forest University and a MSW from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been a faculty member in the human service program at Elon University since 1981. At Elon she is the Watts-Thompson Professor of Human Services and in 2010 was named the fourth Distinguished University Professor in Elon’s history. She has presented at national and international conferences on internships and has provided consultation about internships and service-learning with other colleges and universities both nationally and internationally.
Chapter 1
getting Started
If this is your first fieldwork experience, you probably have many questions about it. You might feel uncertain about what to expect as well as unclear about what is expected of you. As a result of this ambiguity, you might find that you have some mixed emotions about doing an internship, ranging from excitement and eagerness to anxiety or even dread. This chapter will help you to feel more comfortable as you approach your internship by giving you a clearer idea of what an internship is (and isn’t) and the types of learning goals it is meant to accomplish. In order to bring the internship into clearer focus, the chapter offers foundational information about internships and discusses some guidelines for success as well as some pitfalls to avoid.
A Student’S ReflectionS on PRePARing foR inteRnShiP
I can’t wait to do my internship! I have been looking forward to this for two years. I must admit that I do have some worries and lots of questions about the internship, though. For example, how do I go about getting an internship placement? Once I have a placement, how am I supposed to fit an internship into my life? I don’t have time for my family and friends even now! What will be expected of me? Will I be like an employee? A volunteer? How much will I work? All day? Every day? Will I work the same hours each day? It seems that I have more questions than answers at this point, but I am looking forward to it anyway. One thing I do know is that I will get some real-life experience in the field that I hope to work in after college. I appreciate the opportunity to do that.
So What is an internship?
It can be difficult to form a clear and cohesive picture of what an internship is like, especially if you have never participated in such an experience before. One factor that contributes to this difficulty is the fact that internships can take many forms. For example, in some programs, internships are full-time. Students work full days, five days per week in their placements, and their curriculum is arranged so that no other coursework interrupts the day. These internships are generally referred to as “block placements.” Other programs use “concurrent placements,” meaning that students perform their internships while also being enrolled in traditional classroom courses. In these arrangements, students attend their placements on alternating days or establish other types of part-time schedule arrangements. Most academic programs that prepare students for human service careers require multiple field experiences and these often vary in length and intensity with the longest and most time-intensive experiences coming at or near the end of the program.
What makes an internship worthy of the name is not how the time is arranged or whether it is part-time or full-time, but the total amount of time spent in the placement, how that time is used, and the quality of the reflection, application of previous learning, and other forms of critical thinking that are included in the experience. A number of factors have come to be identified with high-quality internships. First and foremost, the internship must be consistent with the student’s academic preparation and offer experiences consistent with professional expectations and standards in that field. This situation then allows for the most essential work of internships, that is, the intentional application of theory to practice in the field (Cunningham & Sherman, 2008; Stichman & Farkas, 2005). Extensive mentoring and supervision for students through both field supervisors and faculty members is therefore a central feature of high-quality internships as the teaching role of these experienced and knowledgeable professionals is key to facilitating students’ integration and application of knowledge (Conn, Roberts, & Powell, 2009). Seminar courses linked with internships are also common and are highly beneficial in facilitating this mentoring and application of theory to practice (Moore, 2013).
A number of definitions of the term “internship” are offered in the literature. As internships have proliferated in virtually every field of study, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) proposed the following definition to provide greater clarity about experience:
An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent (NACE, 2011).
This definition rightly identifies that students in internships make connections between the workplace and their classroom learning while exploring a professional field of interest to them. Similarly, the definition offered by the Council for Standards in Human Service Education (CSHSE) places emphasis on the integration of theory and practice as central to the internship experience. Using the terms “fieldwork”
and “internship” synonymously, CSHSE (2013) describes the internship in the following way:
Field experience such as a practicum or internship occurs in a human services setting. Fieldwork provides an environment and context to integrate the knowledge, theory, skills, and professional behaviors that are concurrently being taught in the classroom. It must be an integral part of the education process (p. 10).
The following description is perhaps broad enough to be inclusive of most field experiences in human services and yet clear enough to be helpful: The human service internship is an experience in which a student, sponsored by an educational institution, engages in education and training while working in a human service organization or role for a substantive period of time under the supervision of an agency staff member and a faculty member. The student engages in an ongoing process of observation, practice, and reflection in order to learn from experience. From so doing, the student gains new knowledge and skills, applies academic knowledge to practical situations, refines previously acquired skills, and gains a greater understanding of self and the human service profession.
To gather more information specifically about human service internships, you might visit the website for the CSHSE. There you will find suggested parameters and guidelines for internship experiences that ensure the quality of student learning.
A Student’S
ReflectionS on the inteRnShiP
At my internship I am treated as a regular staff member and not as an intern most of the time. In fact, I sometimes forget that I am still a college student. It’s great to be treated as an equal and to know that my opinions are valued by others. I have the same responsibilities as the staff when it comes to dealing with the residents. As an intern, though, I have been given a broader experience so that I can learn more. I not only work with the residents but with their families as well, so part of my day is spent with the family workers. The staff is letting me see the whole operation and not just one aspect. Best of all, I am gaining confidence every day, and I’m learning things about myself that I never knew before.
Myths About internships
Because the internship is a unique academic experience, students can begin the experience with some unrealistic expectations. Under these circumstances, it is inevitable that students will encounter problems, disappointments, and misunderstandings. Therefore, a helpful step in getting ready for your internship is clearing up common myths and misconceptions. As with most situations in life, you will experience far more satisfaction and less frustration if you understand beforehand what is realistic and unrealistic to expect in the situation.
Myth #1: While Doing My Fieldwork, I Will Learn by Doing and Will Not Have Assignments and Homework as in Traditional Classes
Although you will no doubt learn by doing, this is not the only manner in which learning takes place during your fieldwork. Assignments vary from program to program and from professor to professor, but typically students are required to write and read extensively during their field placements. Students are generally required to write reflection papers and/or daily journal entries about their experiences, research papers about the problems and populations with which they are working, and/or book and article reviews based on a reading list developed for the internship. Additionally, students in most human service internships attend class regularly (often weekly), meeting with other students in a seminar-style setting to discuss their experiences and to make meaningful connections between those experiences and their academic knowledge. Final grades are usually based on the quality of students’ work in the field site as well as their work on related papers, presentations, and/or seminar participation.
Myth #2: Doing an Internship Is Like Being a Volunteer in the Organization
When students have been volunteers before but have not been interns, they sometimes enter their fieldwork agencies assuming that they are more or less one and the same. Like volunteers, most students are not paid for their work during the field experience, but the similarity between volunteer work and fieldwork ends here. Volunteers are generally asked to do whatever the agency needs to have done, whether this is direct work with clients, clerical tasks, or even building and grounds maintenance. In contrast, the central focus of a fieldwork experience is the student’s learning rather than the agency’s needs. The activities of a student should be identified and planned based primarily on their educational value. In most field placements, as in most jobs, the student will perform a variety of tasks, some with greater educational value than others. A quality field experience, however, will engage the majority of the student’s time in activities that develop and refine professional knowledge and skills. If you should find that the majority of your time is being spent on tasks with low educational value, you should discuss this with your field supervisor and faculty liaison. A further distinction between a volunteer and an intern is that a greater level of responsibility is generally expected of an intern. Because interns are preparing for professional careers in human services, they are expected to adhere to professional standards in their work. Professional dress, reliability, promptness, and other characteristics of professionals are clearly expected of interns. Volunteers, on the other hand, may be granted more latitude in such matters. As distinct from volunteers, interns generally enjoy certain privileges as well. Most interns, for example, have access to client records and participate in professional-level activities such as staff meetings, case conferences, and in-service training sessions. Volunteers are not typically included in these types of activities. Because interns are more committed to long-term engagement in the human service field than are volunteers, greater attention is generally given to the mentoring of interns as they develop a sense of professional identity. Interns are guided to reflect extensively on their experiences and how these relate to their own values, goals, and sense of self. Both your field supervisor and your faculty supervisor will be attuned to helping you develop greater professional expertise, competence, and confidence throughout your internship, all of which will contribute to your development of a
