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Global Alliance of Justice Educators, July 2011Michele Leering
Executive Director/Lawyer - Community Advocacy & Legal CentreBelleville, Ontario, Canada
Reflective practitioner
Critically reflective
practitioner
Self-reflective
practitioner
Encouraging reflective practice at law school:A conceptual model and promising practices
Introduction to Reflective Introduction to Reflective PracticePractice
• Reflecting on the value of reflection
• Understanding benefits and outcomes
• Developing a working conceptualization
• Sharing methods and promising practices
GAJE workshop engages in collective reflective practice!
Key messages from Key messages from Encouraging reflective practice at law school:A conceptual model and promising practices
• Reflection is critical for learning• Reflective practice is an important
capability at every stage of professional development (student professional)
• Facilitating reflective capacity early and pervasively benefits everyone
• Access to justice requires reflective practice
“I think it is actually cutting edge, it ought to be explored.” Research participant
What is reflection?What is reflection?
“…reflection in the context of learning is a generic term for those intellectual and affective activities in which individuals engage to explore their experiences in order to lead to new understandings and appreciation. It may take place in isolation or in association with others.”
David Boud, Rosemary Keogh and David Walker, eds., Reflection: Turning
Experience into Learning (New York: Kogan Page Ltd., 1985) at 19.
What is reflection?What is reflection?
“Reflection is a basic mental process with either a purpose, an outcome, or both, applied in situations in which material is unstructured or uncertain and where there is no obvious solution.”
Jennifer A. Moon, Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory & Practice (Sterling, Virginia: Kogan Page, 1999) at 10.
What is reflection?What is reflection?
“We are inclined to think of reflection as something quiet and personal. My argument here is that reflection is action-oriented, social and political. Its ‘product’ is praxis (informed, committed action), the most eloquent and socially significant form of human action.”
Stephen Kemmis, “Action Research and the Politics of Reflection” in David Boud, Rosemary Keogh and David Walker, eds., Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning (New York: Kogan Page Ltd., 1985) 139 at 141.“
Potential Outcomes from Potential Outcomes from Reflective Practice – Reflective Practice –
Mind Map # 1Mind Map # 1
• A more effective adult learner
• Healthier and happier student/professional
• Cultural competency
• Ethical development
• Sensitivity and commitment to social justice and access to justice issues
• Transformational learning – perspective shift
More Potential Outcomes from More Potential Outcomes from Reflective Practice – Mind Map Reflective Practice – Mind Map
# 1# 1
• Enhanced critical lawyering skills & capacities
• Efficient and effective legal professional
• Leadership capacity
• Holistic practitioner – law as a “healing profession”
• Flexible and resilient colleague & professional
What is reflective What is reflective practice?practice?
Quotes from the literature – A reflective dialogue exercise
Views of Research Participants -Views of Research Participants - Encouraging reflective practice at law school: A conceptual model and promising practices
“A reflective practitioner is somebody who considers who they are, where they are, what they’re doing,
their position in the community, the purpose
of the work they are doing and how they are doing it, and takes it as an ongoing process of learning and moving
forward… a continuous iterative process”
The ability to engage in critical self-
reflection about one’s professional
role and experiences is an
important and learnable skill
which is arguably the key to
continuous learning throughout a
lawyer’s career.
RP means for me the opportunity to reflect in a
fairly systematic and intentional way about what has been done- what has
worked, what hasn’t worked, what was successful, why
was it successful or not successful, and learn from that reflection, continually adjusting the practice in ways in which you will
imagine, and it will be made better as a result of
reflection.
..a bigger definition of RP has one reflect not
simply on the skills that one’s acquiring, whether it’s to think
critically or analytically, or more effective questioner,
listener or interviewer, but it’s to reflect on the role of law in society. It’s to reflect on the implications that law will have on groups
within society.
A working definition for A working definition for reflective practice in legal reflective practice in legal educationeducation
Encouraging reflective practice at law school:
A conceptual model and promising practices
Reflective practitioner
technical
“think like a lawyer”
craft
Schön
professional discipline
skill
integrate theory & practice
Reflective practitioner
practical
“hands”
action
learn from experience
Reflective practitioner
technical
“think like a lawyer”
craft
Schön
professional discipline
skill
legal reasoning
legal practice
make ‘tacit’ explicit
integrate theory & practice
practical
instrumental
‘single loop’ learning
competency
apprenticeshipanalytical
‘artistry’
cognitive
Learning from experience
Critically reflective practitioner
Critically reflective practitioner
critique
knowledgechallenge the status quo
intellectual
law as a social construct
critical legal studies
“head”
critique
knowledge
challenge the status quo
intellectual
law as a social construct
Critically reflective practitioner
context
‘liberal’ education
critical race theory
‘double loop’ learning(Arygris/Schön)
practicing theorist (Buchanan)
unpack assumptions & paradigms
theoretical
emancipation
transformativeIntellectuals(Giroux) “enlargement of mind”
(Nedelsky/Arendt)deconstruct
conscientization (Freire)
critical legal studies
“head”
feminist analysis
Self-reflective practitioner
Self-reflective practitioner
valuesmoral commitment
self-awarenesspersonal
ethics
“heart”
Self-reflective practitioner
valuesmoral commitment
self-awarenesspersonal
ethics
insight
introspection
emotional and social intelligence
philosophy of practiceengagement
self- regulating
Reflective practitioner
Critically reflective practitioner
Integrated Reflective Practitioner (IRP)
Self-reflective practitioner
• engaged• life-long learner• ethical• holistic• authentic leadership• ‘new’ professional• integrated knowledge, skills, values• reflects collectively
The aspirational vision
An IRP is self-aware and can reflect on practice, knowledge and critical theory as a self-directed life-long learner, and takes action to improve his/her practice, and reflects in community
What does reflective What does reflective practice mean to you?practice mean to you?
“Increasingly, reflective practice is viewed not only as an action, but also as a way of being, an orientation, which must be cultivated.”
Willis as cited in Leona English, ed., International Encyclopedia
of Adult Education (New York: Palgrave, 2005, 545)
If you had many members of the profession who were reflective practitioners, in particular self-
reflective practitioners, I think you would actually see differences in
what are accepted as the predominant norms of the
profession itself.
I think that it’s something we are going to hear more about and I think that law faculties that
evolve to adopt these kinds of tools and methods will be
better law faculties.
Anybody who is more reflective is less
likely to be a discourteous,
uncivil professional
Research participants’ views
Encouraging reflective practice at law school: A conceptual model and promising practices
Methods to increase reflection:
Mind Map # 2
Some methods - Some methods - Research participantsResearch participants
• Learning contracts• Learning plans• Learning styles assessment• Rubrics for self-assessment• Debriefing
– OPIR group debriefs– Experiential learning– Group work– Role plays
• Ethical ambassador• Experiential (field trips,
exercises, intensives)• Problem-based learning
– Innovative use of novel
• Mind-mapping• Reflective questions • Syllabus expectation• Use of metaphor• Innovative teaching methods• Co-curricular activities• Critical reflection on readings• Reflective writing
– Journaling– Summaries of key learning
points– One minute papers– Reflective essays– Personal code of conduct
• Teaching portfolios
Methods to support reflectionMethods to support reflectionMind Map # 2Mind Map # 2
• Orientation• Pre-orientation
Reflective exercises• Planning exercises• Reflective writing• Reflective questioning• Self-awareness
exercises• Reading theory critically• Experiential learning
• “Actual”• “Staged”
• Innovative teaching methods
• Course offerings• Graphic exercises• Contemplative practices• Debriefing exercises• Consciousness-raising• Aesthetic• Mentoring programs• Assessment &
evaluation methods• Group process• Faculty models RP!
Opportunities at Law Opportunities at Law School to encourage School to encourage reflectionreflection
Encouraging reflective practice at law school:
A conceptual model and promising practices
A pervasive approach – A pervasive approach – Strategic alignmentStrategic alignment
Law school admissions
Experiential learning
orientation Academic Success Program
externships
Faculty
Modeling
Learning outcomes / core competencies
Courses
Clinical Programs
Assessment & Evaluation
CareerServices Department
Faculty Professional Development
Extra & co-curricular activities
Strategic plan
Research participants: Research participants: Feedback on how to encourageFeedback on how to encourage
• About 40 different ideas• Law school PD forum, sharing
promising practices & learning from one another were three of them
• Sensitivity to different personalities and teaching styles
• Need for annotated list of resources, literature review, “tool kit”, “how to”
“You can’t grow, you cannot learn, you cannot shift, you cannot respond without self-reflection.” Research participant
Closing key messagesClosing key messages
• Use at least one method to encourage reflection
• Share your promising practices• Build on existing promising practices• Nurture your own reflective practice• Create a community of practice• Create new knowledge about teaching
(scholarship about pedagogy, action research)
• Model reflective practice for students
How have you How have you encouraged reflection?encouraged reflection?
Small group discussion• Reflection on practice (learning, skills, etc)• Critical reflection• Self-reflection
Resource Material to be Resource Material to be availableavailable
• Introductory memo to Resource Kit materials• Introduction & Working definition for RP• Mind Maps: Benefits/Outcomes & Methods• Annotated Resources & Bibliography (work in
progress)• Glossary of Terms (adult & higher ed lexicon)• “Ten Actions of a Reflective Practitioner” (Kinsella,
2001)• Collection of quotes to reflect on • Matrix for planning reflective activities• “Where I want to Be” Adapted from Fritz (1999)• For more information: [email protected]
What does reflective What does reflective practice mean to you?practice mean to you?
Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998), p. 148
“When I am at my best, my teaching is like a ___________.”