|
Investigating the Internship Experiences
of Human Service Students
Laurie Craigen, Ph.D.,
LPC
Jill C. Jurgens Dustin,
Ed.D.
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia, USA
|
 |
Abstract
This qualitative
study explored the internship experiences of 15 undergraduate human service
students. Students completed a
paper at the end of the semester, reflecting on their overall internship experiences. Data
analysis revealed four primary themes; professional, knowledge, personal, and
challenges. Findings indicated
that the internship was a powerful experience for students, both personally
and professionally. Implications
for education are provided and recommendations for future research are included.
Introduction
The
human services internship is the capstone experience for all undergraduate
human service majors at the authors’ institution. The internship requires
400 hours of work at an approved site within one semester. In addition to direct service, the students
are also required to attend a weekly internship seminar. This seminar provides supervision for
human services interns in a classroom setting. Activities within the seminar
include group discussions, role-plays or simulations, journaling on assigned
readings, peer discussions of internship experiences, self-assessment activities,
process recordings, and reports on professional meetings and topics. For
the majority of students, this internship is the first experience they have
working with clients in a community setting. Thus,
the course provides a challenging and supportive environment in which to examine
internship-related issues, address problems and concerns relevant to internship,
further enhance helping skills, and receive necessary information and instruction
pertinent to the internship experience (Old Dominion University, 2009).
The purpose of this research study was to examine
human service students’ perceptions of their internship experiences. The
overarching research question addressed was: How
do human service students experience their internship? More specifically, we asked: To what
extent did their perceptions of their internship experiences change from
the beginning to the end of the semester? How
did the internship experience influence the development of their professional
identities?
Literature Review
For
a number of decades, colleges and universities have considerably expanded the
teaching and learning environment beyond the classroom. One example is the
inception of experiential education as a recognized pedagogy. One of the major proponents of experiential
education was John Dewey. In the early 20th century Dewey advocated
for learning experiences where students could employ the knowledge and skills
they acquired in the classroom well beyond the confines of its four-walls (Dewey,
1916/1944). In the later part of the 20th century, David A. Kolb
stressed, along with Dewey, the need for experience to be organized and processed
as a means to support learning. Kolb’s view of learning led to the development
of an experiential learning model consisting of four components: Concrete experience,
observation and reflection, the development of abstract concepts, and testing
in new situations. Today, countless numbers of students participate in structured
field placements where Kolb’s model is often used as a standard to support
the use of experiential learning (Kolb, 1984; Steffes, 2004; Sweitzer & King,
2009).
One of the key components of internships is reflection
and perception. Reflection and perception connects and integrates work in
the field, to the learning (Eyler & Giles, 1999; Giles, 2002; Sweitzer & King,
2009). Several studies have focused on students’
perceptions of their internship experiences primarily in regards to preparedness
and lessons learned (Diambra, Cole-Zakrzewski & Zakrzewski, 2004; Wilson,
Walsh, Kirby, 2008). This research differs in its focus. Specifically, it studied
the extent to which students’ perception of their internship experiences
changed from the beginning to the end of the semester and how their experiences
influenced the development of their professional identities.
Conceptual Framework
In
order to explore the internship experiences of undergraduate human service
trainees, a qualitative research design was employed in the study. Essentially, qualitative research aims
at developing an understanding of how informants construct their world (Moustakas, 1994). A qualitative
investigation of human service trainees serves as a venue to investigate
how students make sense of their own internship experiences. Thus, the present study was designed
to use phenomenological methods to reveal the constructed meanings of the
professional identity development of human service trainees. A phenomenological research method
framework focuses on exploring how human beings make sense of experience
and transform their experiences into consciousness, both individually and
as shared meaning (Patton, 2002). Through the process of
data analysis, the researcher reduces the experiences to a central meaning,
or
“essence” (Moustakas, 1994). Such a strategy requires methodologically capturing and describing
their experiences as they are constructing, remembering, perceiving, and making
meaning of their internship experiences (Patton, 2002).
Methodology
Participants
A
total of 15 participants participated in the research study. Of this sample, 12 of the participants
were female and 3 of the participants were male. In terms of ethnicity, 9 of the students identified themselves
as White while 6 of the students identified themselves as African-American. All of the participants had completed
all of their required undergraduate coursework and were exclusively enrolled
in the human services internship. As
a requirement for their internship, students attended a weekly seminar class
and worked at their internship for a total of 400 hours during the semester.
Instrumentation
For
this study, the instructor had students complete a reflection paper that focused
on their internship experiences. The
assignment, taken from the course syllabus, is as follows:
Students will submit a
3-5-page paper on their internship experience. Students must include the following information: Discuss your
overall internship experience. What
have you learned about yourself personally and professionally? (You may also respond to the following
questions: Discuss a high and low point of the semester. You may also want
to include a memorable case or experience. Finally,
discuss your future plans).
Procedure
Prior
to conducting the study, Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was gained
through the university IRB committee. The
next step was to select participants. The primary researcher selected students in her 12-credit
semester long human services internship course, using purposeful sampling methods. Purposeful sampling methods, consistent
with phenomenological methodology, aims to select individuals based on their
knowledge or experience (Streubert & Carpenter, 1999).
Although all students completed the reflection
paper as an assignment, they were not mandated to participate in the research
study. Thus, in order to gain
permission for use of their reflection papers, the students signed an informed
consent form. Students did not
receive a penalty nor did they receive extra credit for giving the researcher
permission to use their papers. Further, the papers were carefully stored
in a secure file cabinet and no one had access to the data other than the
researcher. While participation
was voluntary, 100% of the class did elect to participate.
Data Analysis
The
reflection papers were analyzed using qualitative data analyses methods, relying
on a phenomenological strategy. The phenomenological strategy represents the
best fit for eliciting the data that will help to address this research focus
due to the benefit of a phenomenological approach—capturing the experiences
of students to better understand the internship experience (Patton, 2002). After the data were bracketed,
all elements of the data are treated with equal value, or
“horizontalized” (Moustakeas, 1994). Adhering to the principles
of a phenomenological strategy, a search for themes in the participant’s
experiences, was conducted. Broad
categories were sought, with sub-themes to elaborate the topography of meaning
expressed by the participants. While
identifying these themes and patterns, the lead author specifically looked
for convergence and divergence across participants. Within
the study, a variety of different methods were used to generate particular
themes, such as creating concept maps and looking for recurring words. The
following results section represents the findings from these meetings and the overall data analysis.
Results
Four
primary themes relevant to the research questions emerged from the data analysis: (a)
Professional, (b) Knowledge, (c) Personal Changes, and (d) Challenges. The following section will present each theme separately and
will include segments from the participants’ reflection papers.
Professional
The
first theme, Professional, includes responses related to the participants’
professional identity and professional experiences. All participants wrote about how their internship experiences
affected them on a professional level. Many students wrote about how their identities’ shifted
from that of a student to one of a professional. For example, one student shared,
I began this semester as a student and I ended up a professional. This
semester has taught me so much and I appreciate the experience. No matter what the outcome of this class happens to be, the
important thing is that I am much better prepared for the professional
world now, than I was prior to this semester.
Another student shared,
At the beginning of the semester, I truly thought there was
not much more growth I could possibly do as a professional. However, I was wrong. I had the feeling that I had taken all
the necessary steps to be a professional, until I was tested at it. I was tested by clients, colleagues,
and myself.
Overall, the students felt that their internship
experiences challenged them to view themselves differently. By the end of the semester, the majority
of students viewed themselves to be human service professionals. For many, this was a powerful recognition
and shift in their thinking.
Knowledge
Many
of the students reflected upon the knowledge they learned in their internship. The
majority of students believed that the experiences they gained provided them
with a great deal of knowledge, perhaps more knowledge than they would have
learned in a classroom experience. For
example, one student shared,
My knowledge has changed and that is due to my experience...reflective
listening, paraphrasing, empathy, and open-ended questions are skills I
use everyday now. The more
you use these skills, the better you become at using them.
Another participant wrote,
My internship site has provided a great opportunity to apply
what has been learned in the classroom to the field. I have developed stronger personal ethical standards, which
validate the value of all individuals. I
have enhanced my development of varying diverse populations and cultures
in order to respect others’ points of view.”
Other students talked at length about some of
the specific skills they learned about their agency and the human services
field, in general. For example, one participant shared,
There are some skills that I’ve been learning to use
in this internship and that I will continue to use over the years to come.
One of the main skills that I’m learning to use is rapport building
with the clients that I’m assigned to. I’ve
found that it is much harder to work with clients if I have not worked
on building a relationship with that client first.
When writing about knowledge, all of the students
reflected upon this theme in a positive manner.
Personal Changes
Many
of the students wrote about the personal experiences gained throughout their
internship experience. The majority
of participants reflected that their internship forced them to examine themselves
in a different manner. One participant
reflected upon her internship in a spiritual manner. For example, she shared, “I
have grown personally. I truly
feel that this profession is a calling—It’s not meant to be pursued
by all people. However, once you are called, it is your
duty to do all you can do to help everyone you can.” Other participants wrote about the personal
things they learned about themselves throughout the internship. For example, one participant shared, “Personally, I’ve learned that
I have to be less critical of myself and to be more confident in myself.” Another participant wrote, “My internship has been a wonderful,
eye-opening experience. Being
placed at my site has helped me to learn more about myself.” Additionally, one student wrote about
how her role in personal relationships changed. She stated, “I
have learned a lot about personal relationships—how to foster relationships,
how to end relationships, and how to maintain relationships. These relationships included my clients,
co-workers, community agencies, and personal friendships.” Finally, several of the participants
wrote about how the internship taught them how to strike a balance in their
personal lives. For example, one
participant wrote,
I have learned how to distribute my time amongst the many
facets of my life. This transition
in my life has been accompanied by really intense emotions that I have
never felt before. I have
never been so stressed, happy, tired, peaceful, loved, or focused in my
entire life. All said and done, I would not trade
this experience for anything. I
have gained tremendous strength from the successful and trying times during
this internship.
Challenges
Several
of the participants wrote about both the personal and professional challenges
they experienced during their semester-long internship. For example, one participant shared, “I had to learn how to separate work
and my personal life out of necessity. It
was one of the most stressful experiences I have ever had in my entire life.” Other students spoke about the challenges
of what their new role brought to them. For example, one student wrote,
The actual internship itself brought many challenges for me. First,
I have never been put in a counseling setting before, and it has taken
some getting used to for me. It
is the one thing to talk about it in class, and study it in a book, but
it is a whole lot different what you have someone actually sitting across
from you.”
The participants also shared about how big of
a commitment the internship was and how this affected them personally. For example, one participant wrote,“The challenge of the semester has to
be the fatigue that I had all the time. I
felt like I was always extremely tired, and never had a moment to rest.” Finally, many students talked about
the challenges of getting all of their hours completed.
Additionally, others faced challenges at their
particular internship sites. This
student wrote, “To be honest
I was a little confused and frustrated because when I came to the site, they
were transitioning…these occurrences aren’t anyone’s fault.
It’s almost like I was in the ‘right’ place, just at the
wrong time.” Finally, others talked about challenges they faced with their
supervisors. For some, they
experienced a personality conflict or felt that their internship supervisor
treated them like an “intern” and didn’t give them enough
“responsibility”.
Discussion
The
purpose of this study was to examine the internship experiences of human service
students. Specifically, the study sought to investigate the extent to which
students’ perception of their internship experiences changed from the
beginning to the end of the semester and how these experiences influenced their
professional identity development.
Findings from this study are not intended to be representative
of the experience of all human service students in an internship course. As with any qualitative
study, the reader needs to decide on the applicability of the study’s
findings to his/her own setting.
All of the students reflected on their views about
themselves as a professional. For
many of the students, it was the first time they started seeing themselves
as a professional rather than a student and this proved to be a powerful
experience. For many of the students, their professional development occurred
over time through their many experiences and challenges in their internships.
The students’ responses indicated that the
internship was a powerful professional experience. Many of the students appreciated
the skills they gained from applying the knowledge they learned in the classroom
to “real world” experiences. Their regular practice of skills also led to increased levels
of confidence in their roles. For
many students, their internship experiences also taught them a great deal
about the diverse needs of individuals receiving human services.
Throughout the internship experience, personal
growth was just as significant as the professional growth. The experiences
they gained taught the students a great deal about themselves. The students talked about the importance
of balance in their personal lives, how their roles took on more of a spiritual
dimension, and the skills and knowledge they gained about personal relationships.
While the internship was mostly positive for the
students, many faced significant challenges. The long hours led to fatigue for many students. Additionally, many students talked about
the difficulty they experienced trying to balance their responsibilities
at their internship with their responsibilities at home. For the majority of the students, these
challenges were perceived in a positive manner and the challenges did not
appear to have a negative effect on their experiences.
Implications
This study speaks to how valuable the internship
experience is for students and how it prepares them for the field of human
services. The reflection papers appeared to provide both the student and
the faculty member with valuable information about the internship experience. Thus, professors should consider adding
the element of reflection papers within the internship course (Griffin &
Frieden, 2000).
This research study also speaks to the importance
of focusing on professional development and professional identity development
in pre-service training (Auxier, Hughes &
Kline, 2003; Brott
& Meyers, 1999). For the majority
of students, this was very first time they started to view themselves as professionals and further it was the
first time that others began viewing them as professionals. There is definitely a place for this
topic to be integrated into the internship as well as in classes taken prior
to the internship course.
Additionally, with a new role-taking experience-like
the internship often comes a great deal of discomfort and anxiety (Foster & McAdams, 1998). Thus, human service internship instructors
must be ready and willing to offer a great deal of support to students. This
may occur during large class discussions, small reflection teams or “support
groups” where students could meet weekly to discuss the ups and downs
of their experiences, and in one-on-one meetings (Griffin & Frieden, 2000).
Future Research and Program Development
The
unique and diverse work of human service professionals requires an expanded
or reconstructed view of what human service education should look like. The internship is full
of rich and unique opportunities for students to experience. It would behoove human service educators
to examine and research different elements of the internship. For example, a study that examined the
perceptions of the site supervisor’s experience of the intern would be
valuable (Peterson & Deusche, 2006). In
addition, it would be beneficial to assess skill development or multicultural
development in interns at the pre-and post-test level. Finally, it would be advantageous for
human service educators to dedicate sufficient time to examining their current
program’s internship. Educators
should ask, “Do the students have ample opportunities to reflect upon
their experiences? Is feedback
given to students upon reflection? Is
there a component to professional development included within the internship
experience? Spending time asking
theses questions will undoubtedly strengthen the internship experience for
both students and educators.
Limitations
The
purpose of this study was to examine the internship experiences of human service
students. While the findings have direct implications for teaching, learning,
and research, there are notable limitations to the study. First, the study was conducted within
one university’s human service program. A future study should address
these limitations by expanduing the study across different universities using
a larger sample. Additionally,
the responses given by participants are subject to potential biases due to
their relationships with the author. The
primary author was also the instructor of the internship course. Thus, it is possible that answers were
subject to response bias, a phenomenon that occurs when participants answer
questions in the manner they think their questioner wants them to answer rather
than according to their true beliefs. A
future study may consider having an external researcher or faculty member not
associated with the internship collect the reflection papers.
References
Auxier, C.R., Hughes, F.R., Kline, W.B. (2003). Identity Development in Counselors-In-Training.
Counselor Education and Supervision, 43, 25-39.
Brott, P. E., & Myers, J. E. (1999). Development of professional
school counselor identity: A grounded theory. Professional School Counseling,
2, 339- 348.
Dewey, J.
(1916/1944). Democracy and education.
New York: MacMillan Publishing Co.
Diambra,
J. F., Cole-Zakrzewski, K. G., Y& Zakrzewski, R. F. (2004). Key lessons learned during an initial
internship: Student perspectives. Human Service Education, 24, 5-18.
Eyler, J.,
& Giles, D. E. (1999). Where’s
the learning in service-learning? San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Foster, V. &
McAdams, C. (1998). Promoting the development of high risk college students
through a deliberate psychological based-freshman orientation course. The
Journal Of The Freshman Year Experience, 10(1), 51-72.
Giles, D.
E. (2002). Assessing service-learning. Paper
presented at the Annual Conference of the National Organization for Human
Service Education.
Griffin, B. & Frieden, G. (2000). Facilitating Reflective
Thinking in Counselor Education. Counselor
Education and Supervision, 40(2), 82-94.
Kolb, D.A.
(1984). Experiential Learning: Experience
as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Old Dominion University (2009). Internship Handbook: Undergraduate Internship in Human Services: Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling. Norfolk, VA: Jurgens, J. & Latko, C.
Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative
Evaluation and Research Methods. (3rd Edition). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Peterson, J.S. & Deusche, C. (2006). A Model for Supervising School Counseling Students Without Teaching Experience. Counselor Education and Supervision, 45(4), 267-281.
Steffes,
J. S. (2004). Creating powerful learning environments beyond the classroom. Change, 36(3), 46-50.
Streubert,
H.J., Carpenter, D.R. (1999), Qualitative
Research in Nursing: Advancing the Humanistic Imperative, 2nd ed., Lippincott,
Philadelphia, PA.
Sweitzer,
H. F., & King, M. A. (2009). The
successful internship: personal, professional, and civic development (3rd ed.).
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.
Wilson,
G., Walsh, T., & Kirby, M. (2008). Developing practice learning: Student perspectives. Social Work Education, 27, 35-50.
Correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed
to:
Laurie
M. Craigen, PhD, LPC
Old Dominion University, Assistant Professor
Department of Educational Leadership and
Counseling
Norfolk,
VA, 23529
Telephone:
757-683-3225 Fax:
757-683-6088
E-mail: lcraigen@odu.edu
This article was published in Human Services Today, Fall
2009 ,
Volume 6, Issue 1 .
http://hst.coehs.uwosh.edu This article
may be freely distributed for educational purposes provided above copyright
information is included.