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A Curriculum for Internship Programs
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Stuck in the Middle with You: Work, Experience, and Study in Washington Internship Programs
Bruce E. Cain and Michael L. GoldsteinUniversity of California Washington Center and University of California, Berkeley
DRAFT FOR PURPOSES OF DISCUSSION ONLY
The experiential education movement of the last several decades
aspired to transform higher education by integrating work related internships into the college curriculum. Experiential education seeks both to empower and engage students through a transformation of the classroom. Furthermore, active learning outside of the walls of traditional educational settings not only changes the role of students but also that of teachers and supervisors. In this regard, direct experience prompts reflection and ultimately results in the application of this experience to existing knowledge. For political scientists, this approach led to the identification of “real world” political arenas that could support this experience. Of particular importance to political science was the launching of Washington, D.C. internship programs that sought to test and supplement traditional political knowledge via a variety of Washington, D.C. settings in which politics was practiced. Since most of these Washington programs are now well established, it is possible to examine their effectiveness and evolution with a substantial amount of data and accumulated observation.
University programs do not evolve in a vacuum. Institutional
incentives inside universities and the changing work environment have shaped the direction of Washington internship programs and in the process influenced their structure and operation. The proliferation of nonprofit organizations and a pervasive cynicism about legislative politics have driven students increasingly into nonprofits and NGOs and away from the traditional Hill and Agency internships. Consumer demand for a more job oriented education and the institutional imperative to satisfy this demand with minimally increased costs and resources have also been major guiding forces. And for research universities, Washington internship programs have most often been initiated and evaluated through the lens of traditional educational expectations. In this regard, professors often do what they do on home campuses: i.e. to educate students through a formal classroom environment, with assignments not closely connected or geared to an
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| | Authors: Cain, Bruce. and Goldstein, Michael. |
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Stuck in the Middle with You:
Work, Experience, and Study in Washington Internship Programs
Bruce E. Cain and Michael L. Goldstein
University of California Washington Center and University of California,
Berkeley
DRAFT FOR PURPOSES OF DISCUSSION ONLY
The experiential education movement of the last several decades
aspired to transform higher education by integrating work related internships
into the college curriculum. Experiential education seeks both to empower
and engage students through a transformation of the classroom.
Furthermore, active learning outside of the walls of traditional educational
settings not only changes the role of students but also that of teachers and
supervisors. In this regard, direct experience prompts reflection and
ultimately results in the application of this experience to existing knowledge.
For political scientists, this approach led to the identification of “real world”
political arenas that could support this experience. Of particular importance
to political science was the launching of Washington, D.C. internship
programs that sought to test and supplement traditional political knowledge
via a variety of Washington, D.C. settings in which politics was practiced.
Since most of these Washington programs are now well established, it is
possible to examine their effectiveness and evolution with a substantial
amount of data and accumulated observation.
University programs do not evolve in a vacuum. Institutional
incentives inside universities and the changing work environment have
shaped the direction of Washington internship programs and in the process
influenced their structure and operation. The proliferation of nonprofit
organizations and a pervasive cynicism about legislative politics have driven
students increasingly into nonprofits and NGOs and away from the
traditional Hill and Agency internships. Consumer demand for a more job
oriented education and the institutional imperative to satisfy this demand
with minimally increased costs and resources have also been major guiding
forces. And for research universities, Washington internship programs have
most often been initiated and evaluated through the lens of traditional
educational expectations. In this regard, professors often do what they do on
home campuses: i.e. to educate students through a formal classroom
environment, with assignments not closely connected or geared to an
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