Education

The Education Internship is perfect for someone looking for a broad overview of the education department at Steppenwolf, and who has a general curiosity or interest in arts education. The internship is a unique opportunity for someone looking to learn in active, hands-on, and generative ways. The Education Internship also provides opportunities for learning administrative skills, observing program creation and assessment, as well as working directly with staff members in the education department as well as other administrative departments. 

While learning broadly about arts education, the education intern will focus on these areas during their time with us: 

• In-School Residency Program: Through in-school workshops, we provide teachers and students the tools to go beyond what they see on stage by releasing their imagination to new perspectives with a curriculum that explores each Steppenwolf for Young Adults production deeply and gives opportunities for students to think like an artist through our pedagogy of Aesthetic Education. The Education Intern will support the process of preparing for our end of summer educator training for our Fall 2023 production, as well as building curriculum in collaboration with the Manager of In-School Programs, the Professional Development Facilitators, and our two Teen Curators (two members of our Young Adult Council who assist in the curation of our residency curriculum). 

• Young Adult Council Program: Interns will be able to attend the final few meetings of Steppenwolf’s Young Adult Council (YAC), an award winning afterschool program where teens from all over the city meet weekly to get a deeper dive into the world of professional theater. They will assist with the interview process for the 23/24 YAC cohort and meet the current council before the end of the YAC year. The Education Intern will also be present as the team prepares over the summer for YAC to start back up in September. Through this focus the intern will be able to witness the depth of Steppenwolf’s work with teens and our values and philosophies in centering the teen voice in our programming.  

• Step Ed Departmental Visioning Process: This has been a challenging and exciting year for Step Ed as a department as we have navigated major leadership transitions, onboarded new staff members, developed new programs, and integrated the results of an enriching audit of our In School Programs, all while emerging slowly from the pandemic into a new arts education landscape. The Education Intern would have the unique opportunity to participate in larger departmental visioning conversations that will be happening throughout the summer as we set aside intentional time for reflecting, dreaming and building together for the 23/24 season.

• Other Potential Projects: Developing content for our Fall 2023 SYA Study Guide, assisting in the End Of Year Reporting process, updating Step Ed artlook Map listings and other online databases, assisting with Loft Programming for Community Partners, or any other areas of interest in the department about which the intern is excited!