Four-Week Cultural Immersion Experience
Overview
The program offers supervised work experience, language instruction, and didactic instruction on psychological topics pertinent to their work and professional interests.
Work Program
Participants work either in a school (for those in school psychology) or a public agency that provides clinical services to children and youth and their families (for those in clinical or counseling psychology). All participants work daily from 7 until 11am.
School Settings
Participants with interests in school psychology will be assigned to public schools that provide services to children from working class families. Each student is assigned to one school.
Language Program
Participants receive 1:1 language instruction for 16 hours per week. Participants with all levels of Spanish language ability are encouraged to apply. Participant language proficiency is assessed and the language program is tailored to meet the needs of the participant. The language instructors are certified and have been associated with this program since its inception.
Academic Program
Participants meet as a group weekly for supervision and lectures. These meetings, hosted by Dr. Tara C. Raines and Dr. Anton Robert Berzins, will review the work performed by the participants. In addition, issues pertinent to an understanding of children from multicultural environments generally (e.g., legal and ethical issues) as well as those that impact Ecuador specifically will be featured. National leaders in psychology, education, and children’s rights will discuss the status of psychology, education, and children and youth in Ecuador.
