International Student Training & Development Internships
The opportunities for students in international development to study development overseas, and to engage in the practice of community development while studying (internships), is extremely limited. Increasingly, international students require institutions that can provide academic depth with a wide network of credible grass-roots development organizations and access to experienced development practitioners.
The Institute for Policy Alternatives has developed excellence in designing and delivering field based training for undergraduate, graduate and special scholars from several countries.
For the culturally uninitiated...
You can learn to handle chicken in a village...
Under a programme with Trent University, Canada, IPA coordinates a year-abroad programme in International Development Studies. An average of 20 international students and 5 Ghanaian students spend one academic year in Ghana, taking a course entitled: "The Dynamics of Local Change". The course deals with such issues as traditional forms of production; innovations in traditional society; the governance of local change and development; and the assessment of planned change and efforts of NGOs in Development. Through this course, students learn how to conduct basic
Program Approach & Scope
IPA has institutionalized this experience into a systematic platform for teaching and learning about alternative development policies and practices, involving students from a wide diversity of cultures and countries. The courses are followed by attachments to development organizations and institutions, for a development internship programme of between 3 to 6 months. Longer internships and volunteer opportunities can be arranged for periods of one to three years.
Three specific types of training and internships are available at IPA:
Year Abroad Program (YAP): International and Ghanaian students in “year abroad” programs, involving teaching and varying periods of practice (as part of the course). This course includes up to 4 months of internship with local development organizations.
Young Professionals Program (YPP): stand-alone internships, involving young international and Ghanaian professionals who desire to be engaged in short to medium-term internships with national and international development organizations requiring specific expertise in their field of qualification. Periodic episodes of conceptual engagement and academic renewal are offered through senior seminars on various topics of public policy, their evaluation and implications for community development actions and reflections. Young Professionals are then required to lead and participate in specified seminars and contribute to the “learning of development” and policy alternatives.
Research Internships: involving post-graduate research candidates requiring field data collection support and supervision. These will be required to work with young national researchers (or research assistants) in order that the outputs and skills applied in the research efforts are internalized in the Institute.
E-Learning and IT: Electronic Learning is a new devise that brings boundless opportunities to intellectual researchers, traditional knowledge centers and development practitioners located in remote areas. E-learning is being used to enable development professionals in rural Northern Ghana and elsewhere to subscribe to courses of their choice anywhere in the world; purchase books and periodicals that will enhance their learning; and engage in e-conferences and workshops globally. In future, IPA’s E-Learning Program will evolve to include all core courses being designed and implemented by the Institute to be made available for international participants, without physically traveling to Ghana. As a practice, information technology and the utilization of the internet are mainstreamed in all IPA activities and events. All sessions in the Institute are preceded by short courses on internet aptitude, and practice/tutorial sessions during all training events increase IT capacity of students and trainees.