Exploring the value of autonomy in clinical legal education

Bradley, Laura and Madhloom, Omar (2023) Exploring the value of autonomy in clinical legal education. In, Dickinson, Jill and Griffiths, Teri-Lisa (eds.) Professional Development for Practitioners in Academia: Pracademia. (Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, 13) 1 ed. Springer, 241–254. (doi:10.1007/978-3-031-33746-8_17).

Abstract

Framed around the example of law clinics and clinical legal education, which are now mainstream in law schools in England and Wales, the concept of autonomy will be explored through existing pedagogical literature and applied to student supervision and client care. It will be argued that autonomy allows students to develop their reflective practice while simultaneously ensuring that clients are involved in decision-making procedures.

Autonomy promotes students’ independent learning and assists in their continued professional development. In relation to client care, many professional codes of conduct encourage professionals to act in the best interest of service users, emphasising the need for further guidance. An advantage of using autonomy as a teaching tool is its association with related concepts such as consent, freedom, and choice. Teaching autonomy, therefore, allows students to not only promote their client’s interests but to also their build awareness of policy which may hinder client autonomy and their ability to participate in reform.

The chapter will conclude that a conception of autonomy which focuses on the dignity of the client is a valuable pedagogic tool in law and other disciplines that employ experiential/clinic learning such as medicine, nursing, and social care.

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Contributors

Author: Omar Madhloom

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