Practicum Resources for Community Partners
Shadowing Practicum Introduction
The overall intention of this assignment is to have students go beyond the university to explore what leadership actually looks like in a particular context. Believing that balancing theory with practice is essential for effective education, we hope that students will be able to observe how concepts they've learned about in their leadership courses come to life in your real-world setting.
Shadowing Practicum Process:
Once the students have solidified their shadowing site, we asked them to schedule an initial meeting with their community partner.​
This initial meeting is meant for introductions between students, partners, and organizations. Then, feel free to direct students to resources to learn more about the organization.
Then create a schedule of shadowing opportunities. The students have been asked to visit (remotely or in person at their discretion) their site 5 times, for a minimum of one hour each, to learn about/observe leadership in action. ​
​​​These visits could take place at staff meetings, board meetings, events, programming, etc., and can be with different leaders who work at the organization. They will observe how your team works together, communicates, makes decisions, and generally overcomes challenges related to leadership.
Each time the student visits your site, they will be filling out a that takes the form of field notes, reflecting on what they observed and how it relates to our course material.
Complete the "community partner agreement form" that the students and partners fill out and sign together. ​
Towards the end of the semester, students will present leadership reflections for the organization they shadowed. Community partners are welcomed to attend.
Resources: