Drawing from Other Disciplines to Create a Pedagogy of Inclusion and Empowerment

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Franciscan A

Floor: Ballroom Level

Law school can be an alienating experience in the best of times. In this particularly polarized political climate, law schools’ competitive, individualistic culture can exacerbate and amplify student alienation. For students who come from marginalized communities, such as students of color, women, low-income students, first generation students, students with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ students, the alienation brought on by the traditional law school experience can be particularly acute. The failure to feel a sense of belonging results in these students feeling like outsiders as students and lawyers, can hold them back from engaging fully in the law school academic and social structures, and can lead to a crisis of confidence. While Clinic is often considered a reprieve from the alienation through its small, student and client-centered collaborative learning environment, we can do more to help these students. On top of existing and well-documented challenges in retention and promotion of attorneys of color and female attorneys, focusing on inclusion and empowerment in a clinical setting will hopefully arm our students with the tools they need to get through not only this political moment as law students, but their careers. This interactive session will focus on how clinicians can incorporate principles from the disciplines of education and psychology to create a more inclusive, welcoming, and empowering learning environment in their clinics; help our students navigate law school with a greater internal sense of belonging; and prepare students for unwelcoming spaces they may encounter in their careers. Participants will leave with at least four concrete takeaways that they can use in their work. This session benefits from the wisdom of three seasoned clinicians and an inclusion strategist who is also a former legal educator.