The
goal of this session is to create an environment to neutrally examine the
impediments to thinking about our work differently and brainstorm novel ideas
for enhancing our work in this “new normal” universe, acknowledging the
tensions that further constrain the equal justice mission.
Utilizing
the “liberating structures eco-systems model,” which posits that change is inevitable and that leadership for
surviving change must be heretical, participants will explore the following
questions: How can we embrace the changes we are experiencing rather
than resist or become rigid? Does the
traditional in-house clinic still work?
Is it becoming obsolete? Which
aspects of the “mature” clinic are we willing to modify to embrace the
"new normal?" How do we balance getting our students ready for
practice and staying true to our social justice mission? Should we redefine social justice, and if so,
how?
Through
interactive exercises, participants will explore where each of their programs
or clinics exists within the model – Are they just “born?” Have they reached “maturity?” Are they in a period of “creative
destruction?” Or being “renewed and
reborn?” The eco-systems model assumes
that all institutions that survive change are somewhere on an infinite loop of
flux. The trick is to develop techniques to move from one place to the next
within the model, and identify the impediments that limit our ability to see
our work differently. Takeaways will be
action steps to explore new pedagogical models and exposure to a framework that
may assist our larger institutions in embracing change.
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