Falling with Style - Oops I Did It Again: The Art of the Stumble: Transforming Mistakes Into Learning

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Laurel A & B

Floor: Fourth Floor

As clinical educators, we often encourage our students to embrace new challenges, make mistakes, reflect, and learn. But do we truly embody this philosophy ourselves? Channeling the well-known philosophers and academics Brittany Spears and Buzz Lightyear, we will discuss the art of the stumble in this session, focusing on our own missteps and how we learn from them. Most things worth doing involve some risk, and clinicians can model for students and foster discussion about a willingness to take those risks. Because there is no such thing as a risk-free risk, mistakes will inevitably occur—creating opportunities for growth when approached with reflection, humility, and a commitment to learning rather than shame or blame. By normalizing both calculated risk-taking and the occasional misstep, clinicians can cultivate resilient practitioners who balance courage with caution. And during this polarized time when admitting error is considered a liability, clinicians can model and encourage students to consider how owning up to one’s mistakes can be a strength, not a weakness. Because all mistakes are not created equal (and because we are law professors), we will introduce a taxonomy of mistakes, including inevitable mistakes, risk-taking mistakes, and reckless screw-ups. We will encourage participants to reflect honestly on their own pedagogical and professional mistakes, and work to leverage those reflections toward a better mistake-making. We hope the discussion will encourage participants to think creatively about their roles and responsibilities as lawyers and clinical teachers in terms of these two themes: taking generative risks even when failure is a possibility and owning up to inevitable mistakes, because we are all too human.