Voicing Differences (Comment)

Abstract

Jane Aiken and Kimberly O'Leary undertake the difficult work of developing specific approaches and techniques for taking account of characteristics such as race/ethnicity, gender, dis/ability, and sexual identity in clinical pedagogy. Carolyn Grose uses outsider narratives and popular culture to challenge the "pre-understanding" of students, and to assist them to accept client stories as true and valid.

Focusing on the professional value of striving to promote justice, fairness, and morality identified in the MacCrate Report, Professor Aiken exhorts us to promote justice by unmasking privilege, the invisible package of unearned assets--about which I (we? or you?) was "meant" to remain oblivious. She argues that the best way to teach about justice is to provide students with the opportunity to exercise judgment. Using adult learning theory, Professor Aiken demonstrates that "disorienting moments" can bring the meaning schemes of students into jeopardy and that students can, with time for exploration and reflection, reorient existing patterns for interpreting the world. Professor Aiken provides examples from both her clinical and traditional classroom teaching experiences of means of "creat[ing] opportunities for learners to use their own sense of justice" and finding openings within traditional legal analysis for discussions about justice, privilege, and difference.

Keywords: Jane Aiken, Kimberly O'Leary, Voice