Psychology & Childhood Studies Field Placement

Childhood Studies Internship

 

Internship Leading Faculty

Professor Connie Tang

 

Field Placement in Childhood Studies (PSYC 3904) is a course designed for the Psychology major and the Childhood Studies minor. It is a great way for students to gain experience working with children and/or adolescents or working with these youngsters in a new setting to explore possible career paths. Students spend approximately 120 hours in the semester at a placement site in the community, applying academic learning to real life situations and accumulating tried-and-true practical skills from professionals in the field. In addition to interacting directly with children and/or adolescents, students also participate in the day-to-day operations of the field placement sites, learning and contributing to benefit children, families, and communities.

This class meets in person twice a month for a total of seven class meetings in the semester. Please see the course registration page for information on class times. 

 

During psychology and childhood studies internships, students will:

• Develop important skill sets to work with children and/or adolescents
• Create unique programming and/or intelligently improve service delivery
• Examine career paths and clarify professional goals
• Effect positive changes in the community

Placement environments include: Schools, Child Care Centers, Partial Hospitalization Programs, and Non-Profit Social Service Agencies. When thinking through where you'd like to intern, choose a placement that best fits your career goals or choose an age group you haven't worked with previously so that you can learn about working in that environment to create connections for a future career.

Applications: Most sites accept between 1-4 interns so the application process must be a priority the semester before you intern. Some sites require Stockton to make initial contact and others require specific qualifications. Our internship coordinator has a contact person for each of our affiliated sites and will share information on applying with you when you meet. Please schedule your meeting as soon as you have familiarized yourself with all 6 steps on the internship main page and no later than 2 weeks after you complete the application: https://stockton.edu/social-behavioral-sciences/internships-centers-initiatives.html.

As you embark on your search for a suitable field placement site, please read the first chapter and the appendix of our textbook (Baird & Mollen, 2023) in a Google Drive folder entitled “Excerpts from Baird and Mollen (2023).” They should provide some useful guidance. You can access the folder by clicking on the following link with your Stockton credentials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18MyKyE94djn33I9gM2qjJCgLY7iX3N80?usp=sharing

 

Note: PSYC majors can enroll in PSYC3904-Field Placement in Childhood Studies to substitute for PSYC3900-Field Placement in Psychology, as long as the placement site is appropriate, and a substitution form is completed and approved by the relevant professor.

 

Student Testimonials

With our papers, the textbook, and class discussions, I have learned a lot about what it takes for professionals in the related field. My internship was at an elementary school, so it was a little different from a psychologist or something similar, but the course focuses on working with children/adolescents, so I learned a ton about that.

I learned a lot about the many theories in regard to child development and the background knowledge of my other classmates in education, social work, and psychology settings.

I am motivated by the fact that working with children is very eminent and something new is discovered every day.