Abstract:
This presentation emerges from a three year study that examined reflective practice of law students in a first year module aimed at retention, and how this transposed to a second year module focused on employability. The main aim of the second year module is to prepare students for leaving university through the vehicle of examining their personal hard/soft skills and a work placement. However, our study revealed that students took the opportunity to examine more personal journeys, their life values, visions of future selves and the need to choose a career which would match their self-identity. We postulate on reasons that this is the case related to the development of self-efficacy and belonging in the first year of their studies. This paper outlines the experiences of students on the two modules and how their use of reflection developed over time. We will discuss how we concluded that their developmental focus was not only on professional, soft-skills and ‘employability’ type issues, but also the development of their future identities. We place these findings in the context of legal education more widely and its continued focus on developing student skills for employment in the legal professions. Contexts include the wellbeing of law students, workplace destinations, extant literature on developing individual identities and the importance of students taking control. We suggest that reflection is the central pillar upon which legal education can help students develop their sense of belonging at university, study skills, professional identities, and allows them to explore their future selves.
Reference:
- Brooman S., and Sarah Stirk. 2020. Who am I?: Using reflective Practice and Self-determination to redefine ‘Employability’ in Legal Education. Liverpool Law Review, 41: 79-98.
- Brooman, S., and Darwent, S. 2012. A positive view of first year undergraduate reflective diaries: focussing on what students can do. Reflective Practice, 13(4): 517-31
- Francis, A. 2015. Legal Education, Social Mobility, and Employability: Possible Selves, Curriculum Intervention, and the Role of Legal Work Experience, Journal of Law and Society, 42: 173-201.
- Jones, E. 2018. Transforming Legal Education through Emotions. Legal Studies, 38(3), 450-479.
- Tomlinson, M., and D. Jackson. 2020. Professional identity formation in contemporary higher education students, Studies in Higher Education, in print, p. 1.
Speakers:
Dr Simon Brooman, Senior Lecturer in Law, Liverpool John Moores University
Dr Simon Brooman is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and SEEDS award winner 2020 from the International Society of Animal Rights for his contributions to developing Animal Law in Higher Education. He is a Doctor of Legal Education and widely published in learning and teaching in areas such as reflection, student voice and retention of first year students as well as Animal Law. His current research in legal education centres around the use of refection to improve the employability provision in higher legal education. His Animal Law course at LJMU examines areas such as the history of animal rights and legal approaches to animals,
animal testing, endangered species, fur farming and fox hunting. He is widely published in the area with his seminal book (Law Relating to Animals, Cavendish 1997) co-written with Dr Debbie Legge, being considered to be one of the major stepping stones in developing worldwide Animal Law. His current areas of research in Animal Law include the UK approach to animal sentience and the development of a law of international ecocide embracing the protection of animals.
Ms. Sarah Stirk, Senior Lecturer in Law, Liverpool John Moores University