Student internship in Jambi, Sumatra

Dr Martin Lamb discusses a one month internship, completed by Eleanor Newman and Becky Miller, and shares images from the trip.

Eleanor Newman (BSc Psychology with Education) and Becky Miller (BA English & Sociology) undertook a one-month education internship in August in the provincial town of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia.

They lived with a local family and worked in four different junior high schools, teaching oral English to lively classes of Indonesian teenagers. They were well looked after by the teachers, and they had many opportunities to sample local culture, including taking part in National Day celebrations, batik printing and visiting the Kerinci National Park. As the photos here show, this internship proved a richly rewarding experience for them and for the schools.

We've been sending students to Jambi almost every year since 2012, because both sides so obviously benefit - the schools gain bright, enthusiastic native speaker teachers, while our students gain valuable early teaching experience in an exciting location.

Dr Martin Lamb

This summer, I was fortunate enough to take part in an internship with the School of Education in which I taught children in Jambi Province, Indonesia, for a month. Over the month, I was able to collaborate with several teachers and government officials who allowed me to develop my skills in teaching and understanding of governmental education provision and curriculum development. In my experience teaching the children, I was able to further my knowledge of what it means to be an effective teacher and greatly enjoyed learning about the local culture from the children and adults I was with.

Eleanor Newman

These internships are just some of the exciting study abroad options available to students within the School of Education.