Home > Internship > Consecutive 1-Year > General Internship Information > finding & negotiating an internship
Identifying Professional Interests and Needs
The Internship is self-selecting, and Teacher Candidates make all arrangements for Internships. However, before you set about finding an Internship placement, it is recommended that you give some thought to your professional interests and needs. With a view to this, you may wish to consider the following questions:
- Based on your first Practicum experience, are there areas in which you have identified a need to become more competent and confident as a future teacher in your own classroom (e.g., classroom management, assessment and evaluation, special education)?
- What are the strengths that you can bring to a Site (e.g., background and particular abilities in music, sports,
technology, arts)? - What are some special interests that you would like to further develop (e.g., an interest in music, special needs, literacy, school administration, and/or curriculum development)?
- Do you have an interest in teaching in another division (e.g., an I/S candidate might want to explore an Internship at the Junior level)? Note: Teacher Candidates interested in pursuing a School Site Internship two levels more or less than their current level need approval from their TES instructor in Secondary or their Option Coordinator in Elementary before approaching an Internship site (e.g., I/S Teacher Candidate interested in an Internship at the Primary level).
- Do you have an interest in moving outside of the traditional classroom to an alternative school or a nontraditional site such as a museum or a social justice organization or agency? To what extent do the activities that you would like to be involved in during your Internship reflect the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession in Ontario?
- How can the Internship serve to increase your network of professional colleagues and contribute to your further development as a teacher?
Finding an Internship Site
After identifying your professional interests and needs, each Teacher Candidate needs to think about potential Internship sites that would meet these interests and needs. To assist in this process, you may want to review the list of Internship opportunities provided at Internship Postings. Each posting includes a description of the Internship opportunity, as well as any necessary skills and contact/application information. All Internship opportunities posted on the website need to go through the required approval process described in Action Plan Agreement.
Negotiating an Internship
Negotiating an Internship is a critical stage in the Internship planning process if you want to secure an Internship at the site of your choice. It is a process that is best begun early, and with a sense of certainty as to what one is seeking. Prior to placing a call to a School or Non-School Site, it is advisable that the Teacher Candidate reflect on the questions outlined above in “Identifying Professional Interests and Needs” to enable you to clearly articulate the kind of Internship you are seeking. We request that a Teacher Candidate approach the process of finding an Internship with courtesy and professionalism. If you are interested in approaching a school for an Internship, think carefully and sensitively about the best person and medium of contact, e.g., contacting a department head may have better results than trying to contact a school principal; or a visit to the school, when you can drop off a prepared package of information, may provide school personnel with time to review the material prior to speaking with you.
When negotiating a potential Internship, a Teacher Candidate should be prepared to share the following:
- S/he is a Teacher Candidate at OISE;
- S/he is interested in exploring the possibility of an Internship at the potential site;
- The areas s/he is interested in completing her/his Internship in;
- The OISE Internship dates;
- The OISE Internship is a mandatory part of the B.Ed./Dip. Tech. Ed. Program and is intended to be a mutually beneficial experience for the Teacher Candidate and the Internship site;
- Neither the Site Supervisor nor the Site Manager will be compensated for the Internship;
- The Teacher Candidate will not be compensated for the Internship; and
- The Site Supervisor is responsible for completing the necessary Internship forms.