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General Introduction

The culminating experience of the Consecutive Teacher Education Program is the Internship. The Internship provides Teacher Candidates with an opportunity to complete the program with an experience that is purposely self-selected and self-directed. The purpose of the Internship is to integrate, extend and deepen the learning experiences of each Teacher Candidate as s/he makes the transition from a Teacher Candidate to a qualified Ontario teacher. The Internship is a required component, it is non-evaluative, and it is a full-time experience for 5 weeks.

Building on their individual interests and needs, Teacher Candidates choose from either a wide variety of Internship Postings (school sites, non-school sites or international sites), or they can independently pursue an Internship opportunity of their own choice. All Internships need to explicitly connect to the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession.

As the final requirement of the B.Ed/Dip. Tech Ed. Programs, the Internship is intended to integrate, extend, and deepen the learning experiences of each Teacher Candidate as s/he makes the transition from a student teacher to a qualified Ontario teacher. All candidates must successfully complete this noncredit requirement in order to graduate from the Bachelor of Education/Diploma in Technological Education program and be recommended to the Ontario College of Teachers. Teacher Candidates begin an Internship after the successful completion of two Practice Teaching sessions.

For more information on the Internship, please view the Internship Flyer.

Purpose

OISE’s Internship program provides Teacher Candidates with an opportunity to complete the teacher education program with an experience that is purposely self-selected and selfdirected. The self-selection process begins in an Internship Information session, where candidates are encouraged by the Academic Internship Coordinator to identify their professional interests and needs, and consider what kind of Internship would provide them with an opportunity to build on and extend their professional development as a teacher. In exploring Internship opportunities and possibilities, Teacher Candidates are encouraged to make decisions that relate to their personal professional goals, and plan an Internship that extends the experiences provided within the teacher education program. This self-directed aspect of the Internship reflects the principles of adult learning, and ensures that each Teacher Candidate at OISE has a culminating experience that focuses on their unique professional interests and needs.

Internship Criteria—Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession

Internship activities must meaningfully connect to a minimum of three Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession (Ontario College of Teachers, 2008): 

• Commitment to students and student learning;
• Professional knowledge;
• Professional practice;
• Leadership in learning communities; and
• Ongoing professional learning.

How the Internship Differs from the Practicum

OISE defines the Internship as:

• an opportunity to develop new skills and/or refine developing skills in a non-evaluative setting. The Internship is also an opportunity to explore facets of education that will enrich and complement previous experience and educational
  training;
• self-selecting. Teacher Candidates are responsible for identifying their professional needs and interests, and for organizing an Internship experience to meet these needs and interests;
• flexible. Teacher Candidates are encouraged to explore different facets of school life beyond the classroom and beyond their curriculum area or division. They are encouraged to become involved in opportunities not afforded them through their Practicum experiences.

• a site where new learning occurs. The goal of the Internship is to broaden and deepen Teacher Candidates’ understandings of the complexity of school life or other educational contexts. Candidates are discouraged from doing internships where they were previously employed or had a similar Practicum experience.

The Internship differs from the Practicum in three significant ways:

1.  The Internship is self-directed and self-selected, so TCs make their own decision about where they would like to do their Internship. In the Practicum, Teacher Candidates are placed in partner schools/boards in a required grade level or subject area;

2.  The Site Supervisor determines the Internship as "Successfully Completed" or "Not Successfully Completed" on the Verification of Completion form. The Internship is purposefully nonevaluative to encourage Teacher Candidates to take appropriate professional risks and explore opportunities they may not choose to pursue if their performance in the Internship were evaluated. The Practicum is monitored and evaluated through the Formative and Summative Evaluations;

3.  The Internship can take place in a school or non-school site, in Ontario or outside of Ontario. All Practicum placements at OISE take place in Ontario schools and classrooms.

The Internship is not…

• a third Practicum;
• paid (Intern or Supervisor). The Internship is a part of the Consecutive Teacher Education program, and it is against OISE policy for Teacher Candidates to receive payment for their Internship activities. Site Supervisors are not paid for their role, as the nature of the Teacher Candidate/Supervisor relationship during the Internship is different than the relationship between Associate Teacher/Teacher Candidate in practica;
• supply teaching. Since Interns have not yet been certified by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), they cannot be supply teachers.

Internship as Opportunity:

For Teacher Candidates:

• to extend learning into new areas. To provide an opportunity to both consolidate learning, and enhance skill repertoire, knowledge, and the understanding of education;
• to teach within another panel;
• to focus on a professional area in which further growth is desired;
• to expand networking connections;
• to experience education beyond the traditional classroom;
• to take appropriate risks as the Internship is not formally evaluated to the same extent the Practicum is;
• to work on a project and see it through to completion;
• to experience another educational system through an International Internship, or another educational system in a province outside of Ontario;
• to provide further opportunities for the practical and contextual application of learning about teaching;
• to add a different educational experience to the resume/ professional portfolio;
• to explore different facets of education, and to develop new interests.

For Sites:

• to gain from a Teacher Candidate’s special skills, new ideas and expertise;
• to acquire Teacher Candidate’s assistance to launch new initiatives that have not been undertaken due to time constraints;
• as potential employers, to observe Teacher Candidates;
• to benefit from Teacher Candidate’s assistance with schoolbased or organization-wide projects;
• to participate in the professional development of Teacher Candidates.