Educators in Industry: How Teacher Externships Influence K-12 Classroom Practices

This research project investigates the impacts of industry-based externships for K-12 teachers and reports teachers’ behaviors and perspectives on how these experiences influenced K-12 classroom practices. The program of focus in this research is the Educators in Industry: K-12 Externship Program. For four weeks in the summer, teacher-participants work at a company whose primary focus is engineering and design-focused activities. In addition, teachers also participate in weekly reflections, group discussions, develop lesson plans and earn professional development credits through a university course. Quantitative data was collected using surveys to convey teachers’ actual and intended classroom practices by comparing past and future participants. Qualitative data was collected through individual interviews, and transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Results from this study provide empirical evidence that teachers who participated in an industry-based externship program demonstrated an increased understanding of the fundamental importance of engaging students in future workforce skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and communication. They also expressed commitment to creating classroom opportunities for students to develop these skills through active learning in relationship to authentic, “real world” contexts.