The “new normal” includes increased interest in clinical courses and in incorporating clinical pedagogy among the whole student body and faculty, and new emphases on alternative dispute resolution processes, on preparing students to deal with difference, multiculturalism and bias, on building students’ capacities for reflection, and on incorporating explicit practices across the curriculum (in both clinical and doctrinal classes) which connect students’ legal education with social justice goals. Some ways of connecting this new dynamic with the clinic’s social justice mission include processes of community building, restorative justice, contemplative lawyering and mindfulness practice. Ultimately, this panel will explore how the foundation of these new approaches is a commitment to normalizing and developing methods of infusing personal development as a component of legal education for the 21st century.
This panel will 1) present the four stages of community building, 2) encourage law school programs to offer community building workshops and other practices that promote the personal development of students and attorneys, and 3) will connect that personal development to the social justice mission of clinics.