Brief abstracts of conference sessions will be listed here once the final program has been confirmed.
Title: Designing or Re-Designing a Clinic for Justice Education
Lead Presenter: Galowitz, Paula
Co-Presenters:
- Bliss, Lisa
- Cody, Anna
- Klein, Catherine
- Stege, Ulrich
Session Abstract: The audience for this session are new clinical teachers as well as very experienced ones, including practitioners. Together we will explore a number of key issues in designing a new clinic for justice education or re-designing an existing one. One of the topics will be creating a mission statement for a clinic or program, incorporating student involvement. Developing a mission (or purpose) statement with the students helps frame the clinic or course and introduces students to collaboration and other critical values. The statement can also be used as guiding principles throughout the semester, helping students resolve dilemmas relating to their fieldwork and class discussions. Another topic will be explorations and brainstorming about the various roles and relationships of students, faculty and clients. We will discuss student autonomy and client empowerment. We will incorporate situational factors, such as the realities of the institution in which the teacher/practitioner works and the opportunities (and limitations) for students’ fieldwork. We will also explore the importance of reflective practices. Learning through reflection is a key element of clinical pedagogy. Reflection is part of a larger process of being able to generalize and transfer learning to other situations. Participants will consider how we can teach justice education in many different formats and contexts, including clinics, externships, street law and classrooms. Each participant should have a better understanding of key aspects in designing and re-designing a clinic and will have take-away ideas for best teaching practices in their clinic and working with students to promote social justice. Each participant should also have ideas for how to use the conference as a way to build additional knowledge about designing and re-designing a clinic. A list of the presenters “top-ten” list of resources will be distributed at the session.
Session Material:
See full list of abstracts here.