Cynthia Batt & Harriet N Katz, “Confronting Students: Evaluation in the Process of Mentoring Student Professional Development”

This article addresses mentoring the professional development of students in clinical and externship placements. Through a series of survey questions answered by clinic supervisors, supervisors indicated that professional qualities they sought in students included a conscientious approach to work, curiosity and empathy, and appropriate behaviour standards.

Supervisors set out a series of challenges they face in supporting student’s learning and professional growth, including: limited time and opportunity to observe students; failure to properly identify student problems; supervisors’ discomfort with confronting students, particularly around personal issues; ineffective evaluation; and the fact that clinical experiences are one of the few professional development opportunities for students during law school. Notably, the authors and the supervisors both struggled with determining what behaviours are inherent in personality and what can or cannot be taught.

Clinic supervisors can make professional development more clear, effective, and a more integral part of a law student’s clinical education by:

1. Ensuring that professional development is a substantive part of clinical education;
2. Professional development goals should be set early on in a clinic experience;
3. Professional development for supervisors about teaching/pedagogy should be incorporated; and
4. Clinic programs should incorporate performance-specific feedback (i.e., feedback on specific examples of work product or performance) in addition to the student’s overall attitude, work habits and approach to lawyering.

Cynthia Batt & Harriet N Katz, “Confronting Students: Evaluation in the Process of Mentoring Student Professional Development” (2004) 10:2 Clinical L Rev 581.