Integrating Externships with Clinics Legal Writing and Other

Integrating Externships with Clinics, Legal Writing and Other Experiential Learning: Teaching Skills for Transfer across the Curriculum Mary Bowman, Lisa Brodoff, and Gillian Dutton Externship 8: March 5, 2016

How Many of You Are in a stable long-term position? Have lunch with non-externship faculty? Guest-teach in non-externship classes? Have non-externship faculty guest teach in your seminars? • Have discussions at your school re teaching skills across the curriculum? • Have talked on your faculty about mapping the curriculum? • •

Goal: A Comprehensive, Integrated Skills Curriculum Ø First year courses build foundation (Legal Writing, Introduction to Practice) Ø Supplemented by co-curricular activities like Access to Justice pro bono readiness trainings Ø Upper-division courses, including externships and clinics, build from what students have learned before and teach students real-world application

Why Integration Matters • We will tell you our story • Then talk about teaching for transfer • Then have you do an exercise to help you apply the material at your institution

Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going Isolation Collaboration Picture from Lynn on couch Integration

Barriers • • • Silos Turf wars Budgets Status Lack of trust Sound familiar?

Overcoming Barriers • • Take time and move intentionally Build relationships – from coffee to joint teaching Do joint programs Bring others into the fun!

Collaborations Between Legal Writing and Clinical /Externship Programs • Real Clients in the First. Year (RCFY) Project • Yearly Retreats • Joint Teaching Rounds Learn more at www. law. seattleu. edu/legal-writing-collaborative

Externships Move to Clinical Program

Bring in the Law Librarians! • Embedded Librarian in Clinical Program firm • Teach specific classes in Externship seminar and Legal Writing courses

Benefits of Integration • Students • Faculty • Institution

The Latest and Biggest Payoff: Teaching for Transfer Across the Three Years of Law School!

Problem “I know I taught them that”

Solution: Transference Retreat

Backwards Planning • Started with an outcome we wanted, worked backwards to design retreat activities See Wiggins, G. , & Mc. Tighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Learning Theory Make it Stick

Backwards and Forward-Reaching Transfer Techniques From Archer et. al. , Reaching Backwards & Stretching Forward. . . , 64 J. Legal Ed. 258 (2014). Retrieval (Backwards) Anticipation (Forwards) Generalize the problem to broaden its context Identify opportunities for future application Engage in metacognitive reflection to find relevant past experiences & contexts Generalize & abstract rules & concepts for future applications Create opportunities for practice over the longer term (e. g. throughout curriculum) Practice repeatedly Make direct references to past training Practice under varied contexts & circumstances

Picked a Skill for Focus Idea was to make process concrete, then repeat later with other skills Client counseling

Small Group Activity (1) Backwards planning (2) Develop at least three exercises, building on each other, that progress over the three years of law school Description of each exercise: • Describe exercise and identify the course • State teaching goals • Describe how this exercise promotes transfer

14 Exercises Developed! Easily!

Feedback on Retreat Participant Survey Responses 80. 00% What Participants Found Helpful 60. 00% 40. 00% 20. 00% ul No t. H el pf ul pf ha t. H el m ew So Ve ry He l pf ul 0. 00% – Learning theory – What is happening elsewhere in the curriculum – Connecting with colleagues – Developing specific exercises

Implementation Successes • Faculty enthusiasm for implementation • Implementation in externship seminars, assignments, and supervisor training. • Access to Justice Institute 1 L training with connection to clinics and externships

Implementation Challenges • When asked about potential barriers to teaching for transfer and integrating skills across the curriculum, faculty cited – Time Pressure – Need for Structural Support • Also still working on getting more people involved in planning and reaching out to doctrinal faculty

What About YOU? • What are you doing now? – How are you using teaching for transfer in your individual courses? – Across your clinical program? – In collaboration with other programs in your school? – Throughout the law school? • What are the challenges at your institutions that might keep you from doing more?

Exercise Using Troika Consulting to Identify Barriers and Develop Solutions http: //www. liberatingstructures. com/

Troika Consulting • Think of one step you could take towards becoming more connected to others across your institution to help you work towards teaching for transference. • Get in groups of three. Total of 15 minutes. – Each person DESCRIBES the step and any problems that would need to be overcome in achieving it. (1 minute) – Then turns his/her chair and hears consultants BRAINSTORM solutions (4 min. ) with back towards them – Turns around and THANKs the consultants (1 min. ) – Then move on to the next person and repeat

Report Back on Approaches What can you take away to increase integration in your institution?

Seattle U. Next Steps- Integration • Held December meeting to debrief and to look forward • Retreat next summer to apply process to another core skill legal research • Identifying other skills that should be unified throughout the curriculum and continuing to work on institutional structures

Please Join Us and Thank You!

Contact us! • Lisa Brodoff lbrodoff@seattleu. edu • Mary Bowman bowmanm 1@seattleu. edu • Gillian Dutton duttong@seattleu. edu