ARTS330 - Internship

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

The mission of the University confirms ACU's commitment to producing graduates who are ethical in their behaviour, demonstrate impact through empathy, and are skilled in their chosen field. The Community Internship is a capstone unit that develops these qualities, and stresses four key tenets of community engagement: critical reflection, active learning, student involvement in community-learning and civic engagement experiences.

Offering students in the Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design degree the chance to undertake a placement in the local community enables students to gain valuable industry experience and contribute to the arts community in tangible ways. In this unit students are required to undertake an internship as a volunteer in any area across the creative industries. This may include: fine art, graphic and web design, animation, community art, art teaching, art historical studies, museums or gallery operations, curation, publishing and illustration. The unit will provide an ethical and professional focus for students as they prepare for a diversity of careers in visual arts and design.

The aim of this unit is to provide students with the opportunity to improve their leadership, communication and organisational skills while making a valuable difference to a variety of not-for-profit, ethically-focused community arts organisations and creative social enterprises. The unit includes a module on working with children, young people and vulnerable adults that will focus on responding to concerns and developing strategies to keep ourselves and others safe by supporting children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - demonstrate a heightened awareness of the ethical and social responsibility of decision makers in business, government and community organisations (GA2, GA3, GA4)

LO2 - the impact of the volunteer experience on their values, assumptions and attitudes and evaluate, communicate and document their reflections about the period of volunteer service (GA1, GA2, GA4)

LO3 - understand the nature of practice in the visual arts and graphic design industries and articulate and report plans for future personal and career development drawing from the community internship experience (GA6, GA7)

LO4 - apply skills and knowledge acquired during their academic studies to a related workplace setting (GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA9)

LO5 - Demonstrate an understanding of the importance, policies and strategies for building safe and supportive environments for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults (GA1, GA5)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Prior to the placement, topics may include:

• Contract learning and negotiated collaboration between lecturer and students and the internship mentor to identify the research into the professional practice of the selected mentor and organisation.
• Determining Internship goals, timelines, OHS issues, placements methods for establishing contact, presentation, reportage and ethnographic and evidential documentation procedures, ethics and responsibilities of mutuality in internship placements.
• Preparation of an Internship contract between the Internship Coordinator and student. Including ways to determine and define his/her leadership role in the placement.
• Setting up of placements and methods of delivery.
• Evaluation and ethnographic research methodology and techniques in the form of journaling and reports.

Placements are for 105 hours either as a three-week block or in regular placement for one or more days per week.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The activities listed below function to expose students to a body of knowledge related to community-engagement practices and social entrepreneurship in advance of students developing and applying skills in real-world settings. 

•  This unit is designed to provide students with 'hands-on' experience in an area of professional and community practice related to their area of specialisation.
• Under the guidance of the lecturer, the student will undertake research into aspects of professional practices of the selected mentor.
• This research will form the basis of a work proposal that must be approved by both the University and the mentor before commencement.
• Each student and the participating organisation will need to complete a project agreement form that clarifies the role to be performed by the student and the expectations of both parties.
• The service period may be completed in a full or part-time capacity depending upon the needs of the organisation.
• There is no expected payment for the service performed.
• The range of service activities undertaken may encompass serving as a general volunteer in an establishment conducted by an organisation or assisting with a community project concerned with the visual arts and/or design.
• Staff running this unit will ensure there is current ethics clearance when the unit is run.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to complete any hurdle requirements; produce a workplace journal and concluding essay that demonstrates the fulfilment of the agreed learning objectives, as set out in the Project Agreement Form.

The hurdle task is an online module on working with vulnerable adults and children. This will provide information and scenarios that will ask students to demonstrate an understanding of the importance, policies and strategies for building safe and supportive environments for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. This prepares students for their community placement and learning outcome 1.

There are two assessment tasks in the unit that are graded Pass/Fail. The first task, the essay, reports on a community-based internship, discusses the significant insights gained into workplace issues, and further develop employability skills in communication, planning and organisation, self-management and problem solving. The essay should discuss the strategic plan and mission of the host organisation and its relationship to community development goals. This assesses learning outcomes 2 and 3.

The second task, the journal, fitting for a third-year capstone unit, critically reflects on their placement experience and observations and requires students to reflect on how the skills developed over the degree were applied in the workplace setting. and o consider active citizenship and community leadership issues within a specific organisational or community context. This assesses learning outcomes 3 and 4.

At the completion of the unit, the participating organisation is asked to complete a brief appraisal of the student and to document the period and extent of the Internship. The student is required to submit a written report and journal to the lecturer-in-charge for formal assessment. These written tasks require the student to reflect upon the impact of the volunteer experience on their values, assumptions and attitudes and evaluate, communicate and document their reflections about the period of volunteer service. The assignments require students to understand the nature of practice in the visual arts and graphic design industries and articulate and report plans for future personal and career development drawing from the community internship experience. The unit will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. Students are required to achieve a pass in all tasks to pass the unit.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Australian Council for the Arts. (2008) Visual arts: protocols for producing Indigenous Australian visual arts. Canberra: Australian Council for the Arts.

Australian Children’s Commissioners and Guardians (2013). Submission to Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Issues Paper 3 – Child Safe Institutions Principles for Child Safety in Organisations. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/getattachment/b35a65c0-70e4-48bb-a215-    d679892ec014/36-Australian-Childrens-Commissioners-and-Guardian

Beyerbach, B., & Davis, D., (eds.). , (2011). Activist Art in Social Justice Pedagogy: Engaging Students in Local Issues through the Arts. Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education. Volume 403

Code of Practice for the Visual Arts and Craft Sector, Professional Practice Kit, in National Association for Visual Artists (NAVA): http://www.visualarts.net.aulnavalpubiications.asp

Department of Human Services (2009) Building better partnerships: Working with Aboriginal communities and organisations. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printers.

Foote, C. S., (2002). The Business Side of Creativity: the Complete Guide for Running a Graphic Design or Communications Business, New York: Norton.

Goldbard, A., (2006). New Creative community: The Art of cultural development. CA: New Village Press

Marstine, J., (2006). New Museum Theory and Practice: An Introduction, USA: Malden

Tunstall, J., (ed.) (2001). Media Occupations and Professions: A Reader, New York: Oxford University Press.

Wallace-Crabbe, M,. (1993). Guidelines for internships, Victoria: Art Museums Association of Australia.

White M., (2008). Are We There Yet? Towards International Exchange in Arts in Health in Proving The Practice, Perth: DADAA

Wortley, R., & Smallbone, S. (2006). Applying Situational Principles to Sexual Offenses Against Children. In R. Wortley, & S. Smallbone (Eds.). Situational prevention of child sexual abuse. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.