Reflective Practice: Connecting Assessment and Socio-Legal Research in Clinical Legal Education

This paper shares some initial attempts to investigate the socio-legal dimensions of reflective practice in a sampling of clinical programs across several jurisdictions in Europe and elsewhere. These preliminary findings were presented at the most recent ENCLE Conference, which took place in Turin, Italy in September of 2018. For some time now, our ‘transnational team’ -- comprised of clinical teachers from US, France, Spain and Italy -- has been exploring our common interest in researching the multiple roles reflective writing can play as a tool for assessing student learning and as an instrument for socio-legal research. During the session, the team members who were present shared and discussed some possible uses of reflective writing of various sorts, identifying their impact on learning, teaching, and research. This line of inquiry can potentially assist the clinical legal education community to reflect about the reasons for choosing particular tools for reflective practice in our clinical programs. Discussion and feedback from participants contributed important input to deepen our exploration and will assist us in developing further theoretical understandings in the future.