Category: Pedagogy
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Janet Weinstein et al, “Teaching Teamwork to Law Students”
This article sets out the rationale for teaching teamwork. The authors analyzed survey results they collected from their interdisciplinary classes (law and another discipline) that required teamwork in medicine and social work. This paper is helpful for clinicians in inter- or multi-disiplinary settings. It includes suggestions for how to improve teamwork, some teamwork theory, and…
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Donna Erez Navot, “Tools for the Clinic Professor: Applying Group Development Theory to Collaborative Learning in Law School Mediation Clinics”
This article examines the theory of group development and collaborative learning as applied to a small group law school mediation clinic. When clinical instructors understand the framework and theory of typical group development, they can help to normalize and illuminate the group process in clinical education, and the clinical instructor can anticipate and better deal…
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Sarah R Boonin & Luz E Herrera, “From Pandemic to Pedagogy: Teaching the Technology of Lawyering in Law Clinics”
This article examines the role of technology in legal clinics during the pandemic and offers clinicians a series of suggestions for how to be more intentional about the use of technology in clinical programs. The authors use the term “the technology of lawyering” to represent the use of technology in legal practice that allows clients…
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Sarah Fishel, Kellie Wiltsie & David DeMatteo, “Certainly Uncertain: Facilitating Law Student Professional Growth and Well-Being through Supervision in Light of COVID-19”
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This article sets out a series of strategies that can be implemented in clinical supervision, focusing on well-being as part of professional development. Supervision models frequently contend that students should be active participants in their legal education. Generally speaking, supervision models advance methods that empower students to learn that effective action comes from thought and…
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Sarah Katz & Deeya Haldar, “The Pedagogy of Trauma-Informed Lawyering”
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This article discusses the pedagogy of teaching law students to recognize and understand trauma and the effect of vicarious trauma on law students who work with clients who have experienced serious trauma. This article seeks to provide tools for teaching trauma-informed practice in all law school clinic settings. Vicarious trauma, or compassion fatigue, is a…
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Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, “Making and Breaking Habits: Teaching (and Learning) Cultural Context, Self-Awareness, and Intercultural Communication through Case Supervision in a Client-Service Legal Clinic”
This article discusses the teaching and learning of cultural knowledge, awareness, and skills in clinical programs through a variety of methods, including research, reading, roleplay, case rounds, observation, and group discussion. The article offers teaching objectives that can be used to focus supervision and education on effective representation of clients from a variety of cultures.…
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Anne D Gordon, “Cleaning up Our Own Houses: Creating Anti-Racist Clinical Programs”
This article seeks to guide legal clinics to self-evaluate regarding how clinics perpetuate racism unconsciously. This article offers concrete suggestions for implementing change. Law schools are homes to white supremacist culture. Beliefs, values, norms, and standards support the widespread ideology that whiteness holds value. Characteristics of this culture include: perfectionism, either/or thinking, quantity over quality,…
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Margaret Moore Jackson & Daniel M Schaffzin, “Preaching to the Trier: Why Judicial Understanding of Law School Clinics is Essential to Continued Progress in Legal Education”
This article examines the judicial misconceptions held with respect to student legal clinics and student attorneys. It explores how clinicians should inform judicial decision-makers about clinical legal education methods and objectives. Law clinics should be proactive in educating the judiciary about the historical evolution, goals, and distinctive attributes of clinical pedagogy. A failure to do…