Now in its second year, the Externship Program’s required seminar for first-time externs facilitates each student’s deliberate exploration of their professional identity as a future lawyer, said Kendall Kerew, Externship Program director and assistant clinical professor, who developed the seminar using the concept of lawyer as leader and the essential competencies of the profession to facilitate subject-matter delivery and student engagement.
“To teach the externship seminar, I employ a facilitated discussion and modified case rounds approach in which all students share and contribute to the conversation,” Kerew said. “I see my role as one of posing thought-provoking questions that prompt a deeper self-reflective inquiry into the issues raised.”
Kerew also utilizes interactive leadership exercises and plays a short TED Talk (or part of a longer one) to prompt further discussion and reflection on each topic.
Each of the seven seminar classes focuses on a specific aspect of lawyering effectiveness. In addition, the classes are grouped to address three questions. The first two classes are focused on the question of “Where am I now and where do I want to be?”
In the first class, students are introduced to the concept of professional identity formation and the expectation that they will use their externship experiences to explore their professional identities. In the second class, students focus on core values and life priorities.
After students have identified their core values, Kerew uses an exercise to help students to consider how well they are prioritizing what is important to them.
“For example, if a student determines that her most important core value is family, she will then be forced to examine how well she is prioritizing family in her life,” Kerew said. “Through the exercise, a majority of students realize that they are not making time for what is important to them and are having a hard time achieving balance, something essential to long-term career happiness.
“If a student tells me that she will reserve one hour to talk with her sister each week, I will follow up at mid-semester to see if she has done so," Kerew said. "More often than not, the student fails to follow through, which leads to a great one-on-one discussion about the challenges of maintaining balance.”
The third, fourth, and fifth classes focus on the question, “How well do I express myself and listen to others?” The specific topics explored are: networking and business development, communication skills, and teamwork and problem-solving.
The sixth class tackles the question, “How well do I perceive others and how open am I to differences?” The specific topic explored is cultural awareness.
The last class is dedicated to student oral presentations, a six-minute TED Talk inspired by the intersection of each student’s developing professional identity, one of the Shultz-Zedeck’s 26 Lawyering Effectiveness Factors, and the student’s externship experience.
Student responses have been extremely positive. When asked what is the most valuable part of the seminar, students have said: “gaining some insight into how I am perceived by others and my personality strengths;” “learning what our values actually were so we could plan our career around that” (emphasis in original); “considering effective ways to be a better lawyer;” and “subjects we don’t learn in other classes.”