Profiles of the Administrative Internship Experience: The Mentor/Intern Relationship

• In Event: Internship and Socialization Practices in Educational Leadership

Abstract

The school-based mentor has a crucial role in an aspiring administrator’s experience and in his/her opportunity to lead administrative tasks during the education administration internship. This qualitative multiple case study sought to understand which factors in the relationship between the administrative intern and the mentor contribute to the administrative intern’s opportunity to lead administrative tasks during the summer internship. This study examined the mentor-internship partnership at six school sites. In analyzing the data gathered from interviews, observations, and documents, three themes emerged: (1) the mentor’s willingness to trust the intern to complete administrative tasks; (2) the mentor’s desire to learn from the partnership with the intern; and (3) the intern’s efforts to take initiative in assuming administrative responsibilities.

Authors

• Rebecca Ann Thessin, The George Washington University

• Jennifer K. Clayton, The George Washington University

• Kimberly Ruth Jamison, The George Washington University