Master Project: Internship

Course goals

1. Understand when and how disciplinary knowledge affects youth practices, identify (different) needs of stakeholders and connect different perspectives when working as a youth professional.
2. Process and provide feedback in a constructive manner while reflecting on your own and others’ academic and professional development.
3. Communicate in a respectful, ethical and appropriate way with peers and professionals. 
4. Demonstrate flexibility in thinking and acting, deal with uncertainty, pose critical questions and be creative and innovative in the development of solutions.   
5. Think, communicate and act as an academic professional by taking ethical and academic principles into account while working as a youth professional. 
6. Evaluate and analyze an intervention, policy, or working method in light of interdisciplinary knowledge on a particular youth challenge.

Content

The student will complete an internship at a relevant organization in the professional field of youth (e.g. Trimbos Institute, Dutch Youth Institute, local and national government organizations such as Health and Youthcare Inspectorate, Defence for Children, World Health Organization). During the internship the student conducts activities for the internship organization on the level of an academic professional, and under supervision of a certified* academic professional at the internship organization. These activities can also encompass research activities but are separate from the student's thesis project. 

Students meet each other and their UU supervisor during group meetings. This way of working aims to encourage discussion on experiences during the internship and on personal and professional goals. The students meet in groups to learn from each other and provide/receive feedback on the progress of their internship and reflect on particular internship experiences (e.g. the experienced tension between academic standards of working and the reality of working as an academic professional, the role of interdisciplinarity in practice), as well as on their personal internship goals. It is expected of students that they attend and prepare all project meetings properly.

Students will reflect on this progress, the provided/received feedback as well as on the identified academic and personal learning goals.

*certified is having completed an academic master and at least 1 year working experience.