Reflection and assessment in clinical legal education: Do you see what I see?

Abstract

This paper discusses issues surrounding reflection, and assessment of reflection, in clinical legal education. The first section of the paper examines what reflection is and why it plays an important role in learning. It considers the educational theory underlying reflection and how this can help to inform the way in which reflection is employed in individual programmes. Suggestions are noted for how to encourage students to reflect. There is discussion of issues concerning assessment of reflection including whether it is acceptable to assess reflection at all, and if so, how fair and consistent assessment might be achieved given its inherently subjective nature. The second section of the paper discusses a case study on assessment of reflective work within the clinical law programme at Northumbria University. The study considers the implications of current assessment methods and whether they achieve acceptable levels of consistency between markers.