Reflections in the Educational Leadership Internship: Bridging Theory and Practice

Abstract

The present study explores how graduate students in an educational leadership program in the United States constructed reflections during an internship. An archival review of students’ assignments for a class was conducted. A constant comparison analysis which used grounded theory was carried out. Findings suggest there were two major typologies of reflections. For one group, reflections were centered around summarizing, showing appreciation, and offering buzzwords for improvement; a small group centered on capacity for change, showed discontent, and offered an alternative to current practices. Findings suggest reflections in education are of questionable value, and students would be better served by developing reflective capabilities using research methods. A review of the literature compares findings with previous research and theoretical perspectives. There is a discussion and recommendations to improve the reflective process for teachers and educational leaders.

Evaluation of the Quality of Professional Training and Education Under the Standards of Total Quality Management

“…The standard deviation value of the expressions was (0.618), (0.823), (0.723), respectively. And through the arithmetic averages of Items ( 5), (6), and (3), we find that they have an "average" evaluation of the degree of approval from the students' point of view. The overall arithmetic mean of the fourth criterion is (3.14) and a standard deviation of (0.480), which allows us to say that the degree of total approval of the students on the criterion is "average" according to Table 2 8 shows the results of the arithmetic mean and standard deviation of the items of the fourth criterion, expressing the management quality from the students' perspective.…”

“…It was noted that the arithmetic mean of Item ( 5) was (4.17) with a standard deviation of (0.565), which is the first item in terms of importance from the point of view of the students, which indicates the efficacy of the method used to control the attendance of the students according to the study dates and the training set for them. Item (6) ranked second in terms of importance with a mean of (4.02) and a standard deviation of (0.484), which is a positive approval degree that indicates that the center allows trainees to view the specializations they wish to join, which guarantees them a good choice. Item (3) occupied the third place and Item (1) occupied the fourth place in terms of importance, with a mean of (3.48) and (3.45) and a standard deviation of (1.122) and (0.923), respectively, which indicates that the students' opinions differ about the application of these two criteria.…”

The Evaluation of Internship in the Digital Information Age

“…An internship program should be based on the understanding and application of theory in the development and deployment of skills. Engaging in such processes increases interns' competence and self-efficacy as they attempt to integrate theory with practice (Coker, 2020).…”

Implementing Response to Intervention (RtI) in a Juvenile Detention Center Using Action Research

“…Reflective ability. The author teaches graduate students how to reflect, using coaching, modeling, and guidance to find problems, a gap, and develop an action plan (Coker, 2020b). Teachers did not show an inability-they showed an unwillingness.…”