Aspiring school leaders reflect on the internship.

Abstract

Reflective journals are used as the assessment tool of the educational leadership program. The interns reflect on their experience, evaluate skills gained, and provide constructive feedback to improve future internship experience. Samples of the interns' reflections along with analyses of these comments are provided in the paper. Several strengths of the internship emerge and are outlined in the paper. The results provide programs that incorporate internship practices with knowledge of skills which interns value in their programs in order to modify their practices.

Introduction

In 1995, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) revealed new education administration standards. The new standards focus on creating leadership skills that foster a culture of effective teaching and learning in which the teachers are viewed as professionals. A most prominent feature of these new standards is the inclusion of a site-based internship experience in educational administrators' preparation programs.

The internship is an administrative and/or curricular experience providing the students with authentic practice in a school setting. This experience includes an extended four-month capstone school internship taken during the student's final semester maximizing the candidates' opportunities to practice and refine their skills and knowledge. Malone (2001) asserts that graduate programs in school administration must provide aspiring leaders with internship experiences that nurture and support their professional competencies. In the internship described in this paper, students are provided significant opportunities to synthesize and apply the knowledge learned through their program of study and practice the skills identified in the NCATE/ELCC standards through substantial, sustained, standards-based work in real settings. These experiences are planned and guided cooperatively by a university supervisor and a school-site mentor (National Policy Board 2002).

The participants of this study are educational leadership students who are going through the internship, which is the culminating experience for their masters' degree program. This paper reports on the internship experiences through the eyes of these interns. The interns are asked to evaluate their internships in a closing reflection at the end of the internship experiences. Their assessment of these experiences is introduced through analyses of their comments and a sample of their journal writing in this paper. The data guide the authors' practices and serve to improve the internship experience for their students. The authors share the interns' views of the strengths of their internship in the hope that other educational leadership programs will afford their interns experiences that build on such knowledge and improve practices of leadership training programs. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the use of students' reflective journals as a tool to improve college preparation programs.

Literature Review

Recent studies on school reform call for educators who are reflective professionals. Those professionals base their practices on their knowledge of the research and their mastery of best practices (Saleh & Holman 2004). Graduate programs need to offer internships experiences that connect theory to practice. Aspiring school leaders need to demonstrate that they can apply their knowledge in school settings (Flanary, 2001). They need to illustrate that they can solve problems in authentic settings (Sparks, 2001). These skills, the authors argue, demand reflective practices that allow educators to understand their own actions in light of their newly acquired knowledge and training in school settings.

The administrative internship plays a vital role in the psychological transformation of teachers into educational leaders (Fishbein & Osterman 2001). The authors contend that despite the agreed upon importance of the internship process, very little is known about it. Educators need to investigate what happens during this internship and its impact on changing the education field in order to better serve these interns as they assume a new role in education. This study casts light on a number of administrative strengths developed during the internship as perceived by the interns. The use of reflective journals as an assessment tool is not new and has been validated in earlier research (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Uline, Wilson, & Cordry 2004; Woodward, 1998).

   Journals have a long history as means of self-expressions and
   reflection, and they can be used as assessment and learning tools. A
   reflective journal involves students intimately in self assessment,
   collaborative critique, self-reflection, and goal-setting. As an
   assessment tool, it provides pre-service, practitioners and school
   administrators with the means for transforming their educational
   experiences into best practices (Gil-Garcia & Cintron 2002, 4).

Reflective journals offer an excellent way for eliciting interns' assessment of their learning experiences. The reflective interns address issues that they deem important, which may not be included in a structured questionnaire. Journals also provide the interns with the freedom to express their opinions and elaborate on them without fear of repercussions.

Methodology

Participants of this study are interns of an educational leadership program either pursing a master's degree in educational administration or curriculum and instruction. The interns range in teaching experience from three to twenty eight years. The interns are typically asked to work an average of nine to twelve hours a week in a leadership position in school settings. They are asked to undertake a comprehensive, leadership project which they have to plan, develop and, if possible, implement in the school. The project has to be identified as needed by the school administrators. The project should demonstrate knowledge and skills students learned during their program of study and should include all stakeholders. The project is supervised and evaluated collaboratively by school leaders and college professors.

The interns are asked to write weekly journals reflecting on their internship practices and a closing reflection in which they evaluate their internship experience at the end of the semester. A total of 126 closing reflections are collected over the period of four years. The closing reflective journals are collected; paragraphs are isolated and grouped according to common wordings/ideas. The data are then analyzed to detect emerging trends in students' journals of perceived strengths of the internship experience. This method of analysis is based on Corbin and Strauss's (1990) definition of grounded theory, which provides a procedure for developing categories of information known as "open coding," that allows the researcher to reach a set of theoretical propositions based on actual text. Creswell describes this process:

   In the open coding phase, the researcher examines the text ... for
   salient categories of information supported by the text. Using the
   constant comparative approach, the researcher attempts to saturate
   the categories-to look for instances that represent the category and
   to continue looking (and interviewing) until the new information
   obtained does not further provide insight into the category....
   Overall, this is the process of reducing the database to a small set
   of themes or categories that characterize the process or action
   being explored in the guided theory study (Creswell 1998, 150).

Murray Thomas (2003) describes the same method of data analyses in his book, Blending qualitative and quantitative research methods in theses and dissertations, as a comparative analysis in which the researcher seeks likenesses and differences among different sets of data. He describes the process as searching for key words or phrases that are generated to guide the researcher. Thomas contends that this method is advantageous in gathering information and content analysis.

Findings and Discussion

The journals' contents are analyzed and divided based on key wordings of emerging strengths in the interns' evaluation of their experience. Based on the analyses, using the grounded theory described above, of these journals; seven strengths emerge as perceived by the interns as the most important features or skills learned during the internship. These strengths are: leaving the comfort zone, working collaboratively, tolerance, leadership, instructional skills, authentic assessment, and new skills. A representative sample of the interns' closing journals is presented in this paper. The authors discuss these seven strengths in the following section.

Leaving the Comfort Zone

The first emerging strength of the internship as described by the students is the nature of the internship project which forces them to venture out of their comfort zone to learn and practice news skills. Literature on learning demonstrates that people learn best when they leave their comfort zone, in which they maintain their values and previously held beliefs, and open their minds to new ideas (Saleh & Holman 2004). In order to learn, individuals have to be willing to take risks. Joyce, Weil and Calhoun (2004) confirm that for learning to take place, students have to "get out" of their comfort zone. Fiore (2000) identify school leaders' willingness to extend beyond their comfort zones to accomplish their goals as an essential skill of leadership. This issue is clearly discussed in some of the interns' closing journals. Some of them mention how they consider it a strong aspect of their internship having been forced to leave their comfort zone. One intern states,

   The practicum has been a humbling experience. I had to do things
   that I would not normally do. I had to get out and do work on top of
   work and frequently get out of my comfort zone. I am very grateful
   that I had the opportunity to take part in this extra work. I am
   happy with my finished product and also proud of this accomplishment.

Another intern comments about how getting out of her comfort zone allowed her to learn new skills and come to a new realization. She states in her journal,

   This practicum gave me the opportunity to step out of my security
   zone and plan events that would involve more parents and community
   commitment and better equip our school classrooms in serving our
   students. I was able to work with administrators in planning,
   budgeting, and implementing a school-wide event. It helped me see
   just how difficult it is to get things accomplished and how much
   work is involved.

This strength was identified by many interns as a major benefit for their experience. The authors include these two previous samples of students' journals to demonstrate how interns consider being able to get out of comfort zone a valuable learning experience.

Working Collaboratively

The second strength identified by the interns is the need to participate in collaborative projects in their communities. Working in isolation is cited in some studies as one of the major drawbacks of the principalship (Hopkins, 2000 a, b). Research found collaborative effort and team work both contribute to positive school culture and improved students' achievement (Hopkins, 2000b; Mullens & Graves, 2000; Sparks, 2001). Other studies highlighted the importance of communication and appreciation of interdependence in building learning communities (Bottery, 2002; West-Burnham, 2002). Healthy schools have leaders who understand the need to operate as learning communities that involve all stakeholders as Fiore contends (2000).

More recently, Nolan and Hoover (2004) advise, "Educational Leaders must foster an organizational climate marked by trust, mutual respect, and willingness to work collaboratively to solve problems" (p.5). They contend that educational leaders must have a number of skills, among them is collaboration and working with others. This is clearly supported by the Educational Leadership Consortium Council (ELCC) standards which emphasize cooperation with community as one of its seven strands (NPBEA 2002). We find this skill, collaboration, as one that many interns comment on as one of the most valuable skills they have learned through the implementation of their internship project. One intern writes,

   This project also [has] given me an opportunity to sharpen my
   communication skills, which I believe to be critical in any
   leadership position. I have come away from this feeling better
   about my ability to make difficult decisions, communicate these
   decisions to others in a tactful manner, and provide a sound
   rationale for all decisions made. For this reason, I consider
   this practicum to be an overall positive experience, even though
   it was extremely time consuming.

Another intern expresses similar views as he reflects back on his internship,

   My practicum project has allowed me the opportunity to involve
   numerous people in which I have been able to build strong
   relationships. The whole experience has increased my awareness about
   the numerous problems and concerns that accompany most schools. I
   have come to realize that communication with staff, other
   administrators, students, and the community is but one example of
   how I believe I have made a concerted effort to improve my
   abilities, enabling me to become a better teacher and administrator.
   I sense a real need to be able to relate to a variety of people
   from all different sorts of backgrounds. My willingness to involve
   others in the decision making process along with the implementation
   of my practicum project has made the entire project enjoyable, as
   well as created a genuine bond by all involved.

These two examples serve as evidence of how many interns felt that strong communication and collaborative skills are critical for their ability to serve their schools and achieve their mission as leaders. Many interns comment that they were apprehensive at the beginning about the internship's requirement to reach into their societies and conduct a comprehensive, community-based project, only to find this experience most valuable.

Tolerance

Another aspect that many interns comment on as a skill or a trait they have learned or improved upon as a result of their internship project is tolerance. Covey considers listening to people's differing points of view an essential component of successful leadership. Covey describes listening in five levels: Ignoring, pretending to listen, selective listening, attentive listening, and empathic listening (2004). In the first four levels, the listener remains "within one's own frame of references," while in the last level, the listener is "within the other's frame of reference." He explains that for change to take place, the leader has to listen at the empathic level. In other words, the leader needs to be willing to embrace others' views. Covey asserts this is necessary for understanding to take place. Leaders need to realize that "there isn't just one way to interpret something" (185). He points out that this is one of the most challenging skills of leadership.

In the interns' journals, many of them point out how this internship experience has made them "tolerant" of others' views. They consider it to be a very valuable skill for a leader as well. However, in analyzing their use of the word "tolerance," the authors can inter that they were more in the listening level "within one's own frame of reference" and did not get out of that reference to advance to the empathic listening level as Covey describes it.

This leads us to emphasize the need for educational leadership training programs to work with interns on their ability to understand others' views and respect them. They also need to be open to change their views as they see issues through different eyes and be able to choose what is best for the school, rather than clinging on to their long-held beliefs. For change to occur, we have to encourage future school leaders to move beyond tolerance. As demonstrated in the next two interns' journals, they view tolerance of other views as an improvement in their own practices and a direct result of their participation in this internship experience. This notion is expressed in other interns' journals as well.

   The papers, the projects, the activities that had to be done have
   all taught and prepared me to be tolerant and accepting of others'
   views. This course [the internship], alone, has taught me the
   importance of teamwork, tact and letting others know what a good
   job they have done and how much you appreciate them.

Another intern expresses the same idea by stating,

   Personally, I have undergone many changes through this process. I
   have learned to delegate tasks to other individuals in a more
   effective way ... Finally, I have learned a great deal of patience
   in working with others who may not understand the full picture of
   what is going on. Thus, I have had to develop my skills in clearly
   defining the vision for those whom I have been working with.

As stated earlier, the interns describe their experience as gaining tolerance of others' views by listening to them. However, they perceive the strength of the experience as demonstrated in their improved ability to communicate their own views to the community. No interns mention tolerance in terms of the ability to change one's views in light of exposure to others' views.

Leadership

Mullen and Cairns (2001) argue that pre-service administrators need to be immersed in the inner workings of a school for an extended period. Sparks (2001) echoes the same argument by pointing out that apprenticeship is a key to learning on the job in schools. Practicing leadership is a skill that emerges as a strong feature of the internship in this study.

Kouzes and Posner (2002) assert that leaders are not born and that leadership can be learned if the appropriate circumstances exist. Fishbein and Osterman (2001) highlight the fact that many interns in educational leadership programs are teachers who have difficulty adjusting to their new role as administrators. This sentiment is expressed in some of the interns' journals in this study. One intern states,

   Now I have the ability to lead a team. This will be one of the most
   rewarding skills I will possess as an administrator. In the
   beginning I was skeptical of taking charge. Since I have been
   depended on by my colleagues, I have shown them what I am capable of
   achieving. Working with others has been trying, yet rewarding. I
   have realized that we are all different with very different and
   sometimes bold opinions. Professionalism must always be shown to
   others even when differences arise. Working with a committee has
   shown me that two people can both be right even if their ideas are
   completely different. While the practicum taught me how to rally a
   group of teachers together to work towards a common goal, it also
   taught me that when a major decision needs to be made, the group
   looks to the leader. Shouldering the responsibility is an essential
   characteristic of a successful leader.

A similar view is expressed by another intern as she reflects on the lessons learned from the experience.

   As I reflect for the final time about my practicum project, I feel
   that it was a success because it has helped me better understand
   the role of an administrator in working with other faculty members
   to carry out a curriculum improvement project from beginning to end.
   I have seen firsthand the importance of preparation, organizational
   skills, understanding the school social system, and exercising
   leadership skills to motivate colleagues to do their best to
   accomplish something worthwhile.

These two journals are only examples of many journals in which the interns share the same appreciation of the opportunity given to them during their internship to practice leadership skills in authentic settings. The internship experience clearly helps them gain confidence in their ability to be educational leaders as indicated in many of their journals.

Instructional Skills

Many interns, the majority of whom are classroom teachers, state that participating in the internship experience has led them to re-examine their teaching practices through a different set of eyes and as a result they became better teachers through their willingness to try new techniques. Interestingly, schools are always more focused on students' learning, but they rarely pay attention to teachers' learning (Stoll, Fink, & Earl 2003). Fenwick and Pierce (2001) report that principals found their previous teaching experiences invaluable and that their administrative experience helped them better understand and contribute to effective teaching practices.

Having interns take the roles of the administrators enables them to see what teachers really need to grow professionally. They start to think how they can, in their new roles as administrators, address teachers' needs. Reflection on one's own practices is cited in much of the literature as an essential skill for teachers' learning (Saleh 2004; Stoll, Fink, & Earl 2003). Interns express this idea by mentioning that having to reflect during the internship has resulted in making them better teachers and gave them confidence to try new skills in their own classrooms. In one example, an intern writes,

   Through taking my practicum, I have opened myself up to the idea of
   trying new techniques to help children with various problems. By
   researching and being a communicator, I have realized that I can
   take a subject (such as social, emotional, and behavioral problems)
   that I know very little about and learn enough about it to start an
   entire new program for my school.

Another intern with background as a coach and a physical education teacher comments,

   Probably the most important thing that I gained from this project is
   confidence in my ability to address academic needs in my school. I
   will be more willing to wade into the academic realm of the school
   in the future. I also gained a better insight into collegial
   collaboration and encouraging people to go the extra mile for our
   kids.

In these two journals, interns demonstrate that participating in the internship enables them to reflect on their own practices as teachers, identify their weaknesses, and resolve to address them. This is an important skill for future administrators, which allows them to be resources and instructional leaders for their schools.

Authentic Assessment

Authentic assessment emphasizes evaluating complex performances and connecting assessment with teaching and learning (McNeil 2003). Research supports the premise that authentic assessment gives educators a better understanding of their students' abilities to apply learned skills in real life situations (McNeil 2003) Mullen and Cairns (2001) describe graduate leadership programs as information rich and experience poor. This contention is supported by the findings of Hopkins' (2000b) and Flanary's (2001) research. Much pf the research Many of the interns' journal entries support this contention. One of them writes,

   Even though this has been time consuming, this practicum has been
   more rewarding and educational than any test I could have taken
   to complete my master's degree. I believe this experience should
   be done by anyone who is attempting to complete a masters' degree
   instead of taking comprehensive exams. As has been proven in brain
   based research, we learn by doing, experiencing than by merely
   reading about something.

Another intern expresses similar ideas by stating,

   This by far been the most challenging, yet most rewarding assignment
   I have undertaken. It has been a performance assessment of my skills
   as a leader in the education field and one I look forward to seeing
   its completion. Communication, organization, and research skills are
   skills 1 know I have improved [upon]during this process, which will
   make me a better administrator as well as educational leader.

The reader can see how interns value their internship experience as an authentic assessment of their skills as future leaders. Many interns comment that without practicing these skills in schools, they would not be able to gain the confidence needed to assume their roles as leaders in the future.

New Skills

An interesting last strength that is identified in a large number of interns' closing reflections is learning new skills. Brain research demonstrates that human brains are biologically "wired" for learning and that human beings are naturally motivated to pursue their own curiosities (Sylwester 2000). Schools, however, tend to focus more on students' learning while neglecting teachers' learning. Research shows that teachers need to be life-long learners who continuously pursue learning opportunities that keep them motivated to try new techniques in their own classrooms (Saleh & Holman 2004). Such knowledge results in improved school practices as well as job satisfaction. Therefore, school leaders must provide teachers with opportunities for professional development that foster true learning. Many interns comment that this hands-on, performance-based experience has opened their eyes to learning many skills not only related to classroom teaching and administration, but skills that are useful to them in general. One of them writes,

   The practicum is one of the best experiences I have ever had in
   education. It causes one to be insightful and creative and forces
   you to become somewhat of a visionary in implementing new and
   progressive ideas into your school.

Another intern comments on newly acquired skills,

   The practicum experience offers an excellent opportunity to
   evaluate the process of completing a task. When I began this
   experience I was very product-oriented. I quickly realized why
   the focus should be on the process. Anyone can create and complete a
   product. The process that is followed to complete the product is
   what takes a special skill. Involving others in the process is what
   I believe makes a school leader successful. However, when one begins
   to involve others 'new rules' are enacted. No longer are things
   simple.

This past section illustrates that interns found learning new skills that they did not anticipate learning during the course of the internship to be valuable. Many of the interns express surprise at the skills gained and their usefulness to them in the school and their daily lives.

Conclusion

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the use of students' reflective journals as a tool to improve college preparation programs. The authors investigate the students' perceptions of their internship experiences and skills learned and valued by them through the use of reflective journals. The interns in this study reflect on lessons learned from their internship in their closing journals. The authors avoid the use of a structured survey to give interns freedom to select and reflect on aspects of the internship they deem valuable. The authors analyze interns' journals and classify the interns' comments based on the common traits/skills they view as strengths of the internship. They look for strengths the interns perceive of their internship experience in hope that this knowledge will help guide future practices to improve the internship experience for their students.

Through the analyses of the students' reflections during the internship experiences, seven skills emerge that interns have an opportunity to develop and hone. These skills are leaving the comfort zone, working collaboratively, tolerance, leadership, instructional skills, authentic assessment, and new skills. Four of the seven emergent skills identified by the interns (taking risks, communication, authentic settings and leadership) are clearly documented in the research as necessary for effective leaders (Mullen & Cairns, 2001). The student reflections reveal that many leave their comfort zone. To learn effective administrative practices, students must be encouraged to try out newly developing leadership skills in a safe environment, such as provided through the internship. Through the internship, aspiring administrators "'learn to learn" by moving from their experiences as teachers to those experiences that will make them effective leaders (Martin, Wright, & Danzig 2003). Students work collaboratively with other professionals in their schools in order to complete the internship experiences. Only those leaders who learn the skill of working collaboratively with their staff, other administrators, community and parents are able to be effective leaders. The interns collaborate through the internship process in order to complete it successfully (National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA 2002). Interns report to have more tolerance for others' viewpoints and/or solutions besides their own. Research has clearly shown that effective leaders must be open to new ideas, accept criticisms, and use information to continually reevaluate and adjust for improvement ((NPBEA 2002). Students reflect on the importance of actually getting to test their leadership skills. Through the internship experience, the interns reflect on the effectiveness of their administrative experiences. They participate in "best practices" for good leaders in that they continuously analyze their activities through their reflections and make adjustments as needed (Saleh 2004).

The ELCC standards pertaining to the educational leadership internship emphasize that such internship must provide interns with a chance to "synthesize and apply" the knowledge gained in their leadership programs in authentic settings. This is one of the strengths of the program identified by the interns in this study. Another goal set by the ELCC standards for the internship is affording interns the chance to practice leadership skills and decision making "typical of those made by the educational leaders" (NPBEA 2002), which is a strength identified by the interns as well. The interns point out that gaining confidence in their leadership of instructional skills and learning new skills are two additional strengths of the internship by virtue of allowing them to practice these skills in their schools. These two strengths meet the ELCC standards (7.2.b & 7.3.a) which require interns to apply knowledge and skills in school settings and experience "multiple settings that allow for the demonstration of a wide range of relevant knowledge and skills" (NPBEA 2002).

Knowledge from this study helps educational leaders' training programs develop internship practices that emphasize skills which are perceived by interns as important and most useful for them as aspiring educational leaders. Such knowledge should be utilized in designing internship experiences that foster these skills and provide interns with opportunites to practice such skills in authentic settings.

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Amany Saleh, Arkansas State University

Jackie McBride, Arkansas State University

Joan Henley, Arkansas State University

Saleh, Ph.D. and McBride, Ed. D. are Associate Professors of Education and Henley, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Education in the College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership, Curriculum, and Special Education.