Levy-Pounds, N; A Tyner, A --- "The principles of Ubuntu: using the legal clinical model to train agents of social change" [2010] LegEdDig 4; (2010) 18(1) Legal Education Digest 11

• The principles of Ubuntu: using the legal clinical model to train agents of social change

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The principles of Ubuntu: using the legal clinical model to train agents of social change

N Levy-Pounds & A Tyner

International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, Vol 13, 2008, pp7-20

In order to more effectively train the next generation of leaders and advocates for social justice, law schools and other academic institutions must be willing to implement innovative teaching strategies that offer hands-on learning experiences and opportunities to more fully develop problem solving skills. While the legal clinical model has been utilised in many law school programs to teach law students practical skills, this model could be taken to the next level by implementing an overt focus on social justice lawyering. Clinic professors may prepare law students to address the needs of under-served communities by incorporating the sub-Saharan African philosophy of Ubuntu into the course curriculum. Ubuntu draws upon a relational worldview by recognising the universal bonds and sense of interrelatedness of humanity by challenging lawyers to use their legal skills to promote social good and further humanitarian goals. Archbishop Tutu characterises a person with Ubuntu as ‘available for others and to know that you are bound up with them in the bundle of life, for a person is only a person through other persons. And so we search for this ultimate attribute and reject ethnicity and other such qualities as irrelevancies’. By applying the principles of Ubuntu, law students will be prepared to serve as agents of social change in their local communities and society at large.

The current structure of legal education, at least in the United States, is woefully inadequate in developing lawyers whose focus is on achieving social justice and who are passionate about using the law as a tool to address the needs of the poor and the disenfranchised. This notion of servant leadership is markedly absent from the law school curriculum, even though it helps to form the basis of the ideal attorney/client relationship. Based upon Robert K Greenleaf’s essay entitled Servant as Leader, a servant leader is one who places the needs of others above his own needs. The key priority is serving first and then leading. The lawyer as servant leader acts with humility and respect by simply asking the questions: How can I be of service? How can I, as an attorney, utilise my gifts and talents to serve communities and further the legal profession’s commitment to service?

Because of the failure of law schools to explicitly articulate the responsibility to use the law as a tool to help those less fortunate, law students, generally speaking, abandon this responsibility when it conflicts with their desire for worldly comfort. Even when law students are passionate about social justice, they are encouraged to work within the parameters that have already been defined within the profession, such as serving as a public defender or legal aid lawyer, even though opportunities to correct wide-scale legal injustices are often diminished within these positions, primarily due to limited resources and time constraints. Such wide-scale legal issues may include racial disparities within the adult and juvenile criminal justice systems, the prevalence of police misconduct and brutality in poor communities of colour, and the reintegration challenges facing people with criminal histories.

Law schools in general, and law school clinical programs in particular, have the ability to help shape legal minds and to prepare law students to serve the community in a more holistic manner.

In addition to strengthening the leadership capabilities of law students, there is also a dire need to foster a more meaningful commitment to public service. Through the study of Ubuntu, law students are encouraged to focus on ministering to the needs of others through the utilisation of their legal skills which reinforces the concept of servant leadership by focusing on ‘serving first’. The study and application of principles of Ubuntu requires a shift in cultural perspectives related to the concept of community from the Western ideas of individual autonomy to the focus on the collectivist and communal nature of African culture. In relation to the practice of law, Ubuntu focuses on the ‘interrelatedness’ of the human experience that requires each person to use his/her gifts and talents to better society. The concept of Ubuntu was also encompassed in Rev Martin Luther King, Jr’s vision of ‘interrelatedness’.

The principles of Ubuntu encompass the sense of ‘interrelatedness’ that addresses the societal need for love, peace, and justice. By embracing principles of Ubuntu, law students are trained to recognise the power that a law degree provides in creating access to justice, protecting the rights of those marginalised, and shaping public policy.

The clinic course curriculum can provide law students with the tools to become an agent of social change and cognisant of their responsibility to work towards the greater good of society. This responsibility requires being an advocate for justice, fairness, and equity.

By incorporating the principles of Ubuntu into the clinic curriculum, law students are reminded that they can be the change they hope to see in the world. Historically, lawyers have been pioneers in leading social change in various arenas: namely, political, social, and economic. Legal educators play an integral role in giving more focused attention ‘to the actual and potential effects of the law school experience on formation of future legal professionals’. Clinic professors have the opportunity to guide law students in the process of becoming agents of social change.

With these ideals in mind, we created the Community Justice Project (‘CJP’) at the University of St Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We believe that the CJP serves as an ideal model which can be replicated by other clinic programs and community outreach organisations to develop lawyers into servant leaders and effective agents of social change.

An integral step in preparing law students to become agents of social change is to deliberately and strategically incorporate principles of social justice into the legal clinical curriculum and programming. Clinic professors can aid in this training by engaging law students in ongoing dialogue about social justice issues, exposing students to the diverse life experiences of community members, and encouraging them to use the law as a tool to promote justice and social change.

The CJP curriculum is based upon a model of community lawyering that focuses on working collaboratively within an inter-professional setting, empowering marginalised populations, and providing leadership training for aspiring attorneys. The community lawyering model focuses on holistic advocacy. Further, the community lawyer addresses the root cause of the social problems in under-served communities; instead of focusing merely on resolving a legal issue. The model is a client-centred approach that answers questions such as: What support is needed to remedy the legal issue and promote community-building? How can similar circumstances be prevented in the future? How can the community benefit from an inter-professional model of partnership with counseling services provided by social work and psychology professionals?

These principles are taught through a variety of course materials, which include historical texts, local media sources, and philosophical readings. The diverse array of readings provides students with the tools to effectively advocate at a grassroots level, one community at a time. At its core, the CJP encourages students to reappraise what it means to be a lawyer.

The process of community lawyering used by the CJP begins with an invitation from the community. The community should welcome the community lawyer into the community. CJP received its invitation from the St Paul National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) to address quality of life issues of the African American community. The next step is the immersion process which uses the principles of ethnography. During this process, the community lawyer becomes a participant observer. The community lawyer must become immersed in the community so gaining a deeper understanding of the root causes of the legal and social issues. For instance in our clinic, CJP students gain hands-on experience by reading a community newspaper, court observations, organising community town hall forums, and spending time at a local coffee shop meeting with community members. Through these experiences, our students gain cross-cultural competence skills and establish a positive rapport with the community. The next step takes place during the problem solving phase. In this phase, the community lawyer works with the community in planning steps to achieve the community’s goals. The key focus is on collaboration. The community lawyer uses a variety of skills at this stage such as fact investigation, writing as advocacy, critical thinking, reflective listening, negotiation, and mediation. The final stage is implementation. This is the process of empowering the community. The community lawyer works with the community to help it realise its power and protect its legal rights. Although the community lawyer performs a key galvanising role, overall, this is a community-led initiative.

Traditionally, lawyers work independently to resolve legal challenges that clients face. However, each client may also have a myriad of extra-legal issues ranging from psychological to social issues. The practice of holistic lawyering requires collaboration with other problem-solvers in various professional roles rather than overlooking the benefits of an inter-professional approach.

This is the case especially when working with under-served communities in high-need areas since a legal problem may also be coupled with a need for case management due to the absence of economic development and revitalisation efforts in the community. Psychological services may also be needed based upon traumatic life experiences suffered from living life in the margins of society. CJP students work collaboratively with psychology and social work students as they strive to meet the needs of underserved communities while gaining practical real-world experience and cultural competency skills.

Agents of social change must also empower the communities served by aiding in the fight against injustice. This goal is obtainable when attorneys become sensitive to the needs of the community and overcome the tendency of taking over the community’s problems. CJP students are encouraged to prevail over this inclination by being responsive to the needs of the community.

Once a community has realised the full potential of its power, community members are likely to be prepared to address future social, political, or legal matters more effectively.

The foundations of leadership principles are developed through the reading of The Servant as Leader, related lecture, and classroom discussions. During this lecture, students are challenged to identify the characteristics of the servant leader and discover ways to incorporate the principles of servant leadership into their professional identities. Students also complete a servant leadership inventory which aids them in identifying their leadership capabilities and then working to develop those qualities. Leadership principles that are outlined in Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed are also discussed during class and incorporated into the legal training. One key lesson that CJP students learn is that they must engage in a mutual learning process in order to effectively serve the needs of the community.

Integral to the training of agents of social change is the development of creative problem solving techniques. In essence, students must dare to be bold in the face of injustice and show commitment to creating equal access to justice. One such example is the exploration and practical application of restorative justice principles. CJP students are required to read Howard Zehr’s The Little Book of Restorative Justice as a foundational text on the theory of restorative justice. After reading the text, CJP students are able to identify the benefit of restorative justice practices of ‘putting things right’ by focusing on the harm to and needs of all participants (victims, offenders, and community members), addressing obligations of each, using an inclusive and collaborative process, and involving all stakeholders. CJP students also receive hands-on experience in applying these principles. Through the Restorative Justice Project, CJP students are able to help create a sense of community, bring all participants together and extend an invitation for dialogue and healing.

CJP students also participate in restorative justice circles as community members. In this role, CJP students serve as community participants by expressing the concerns of the community related to promoting social welfare, upholding civil rights and liberties, and ending police brutality. The benefit of students’ involvement in circle processes are numerous and far-reaching.

In order to become more culturally competent and to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of the community being served, CJP students are required to read the weekly edition of Insight News and discuss the current events in class. Insight News is a local journal for community news, business, and the arts. The weekly edition includes articles ranging from historical perspectives on race to emerging civil rights issues that impact the local African American community.

During weekly class discussions, students share the stories in Insight News that caught their attention. One such example was Insight News’ coverage of the national mortgage crisis. CJP students, along with student representatives of the Lawyers’ Council for Social Justice canvassed communities in North Minneapolis (which has a high concentration of poor African Americans) and provided information on protection against predatory lending and foreclosure. CJP students also played an active role in hosting and participating in a law school sponsored forum on mortgage fraud.

The CJP course curriculum is designed to be discussion based and interactive. In order to reach this goal, students must feel free to express themselves in a safe and respectful learning environment. This sense of safety is created by setting ground rules for discussion. The first rule is being respectful by acknowledging that each member of the group has a different ‘life lens’, which is shaped by personal life experiences, faith journey, culture, heritage, upbringing, and/or socioeconomic status. In addition, everyone must trust that the ideas and opinions expressed in class are meant to create a deeper understanding, promote development, and foster transformation and growth. All members of the class must also agree that the class discussion will be kept confidential in order to build trust and strengthen interpersonal relationships. It is also paramount that students express a willingness to grow and explore. For instance in the Marginalised Populations class series, students examine the social construction of race in America and the history of the civil rights movement. These class discussions are typically very intense since students are addressing issues like institutionalised racism, poverty, and human rights violations. This leads to the next rule that students must also be open to being challenged and stretched in their ways of thinking. Collectively, CJP students embark on a learning journey together and must be willing to explore differing views. Personal attacks are not allowed, but ideas are challenged and questioned. Through this dialogue process, CJP students grow immensely and their worldview evolves as they become agents of social change.

CJP students are required to complete five hours of court observation, which includes three hours of adult criminal court and two hours of juvenile court. They observe court room dynamics, examine procedural fairness, and collect demographical information. After their visit, students draft and submit a memorandum related to their experiences. Students are also encouraged to perform a police ride-along, which consists of accompanying police officers as they perform routine duties in the local community. In addition, students are required to attend and observe a community conferencing session. This allows students to gain a deeper understanding of restorative justice practices.

CJP students are encouraged to become reflective learners. Throughout the semester, students complete reflective exercises, which include drafting essays, journaling, and participating in small group discussions. This process of reflection allows students to discover methods for merging their personal identity and professional identity without the need to compartmentalise views and perspectives. As both the legal and personal voices emerge, students are encouraged to write reflective essays or journal entries that explore their worldview as it evolves throughout their educational and professional development. This approach enables students to identify how their life experiences have shaped the way that they view the concept of social justice. Additionally, students are encouraged to evaluate whether this view has changed based upon class discussions, volunteer experience, and participation in clinical programming.

Some of our current initiatives include the development of a reintegration and prevention program for African American boys and men in Saint Paul, an evaluation of the civilian review complaint process for alleged victims of police misconduct and brutality, and a community awareness program to educate youth and their parents about the impacts of involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Law students benefit immensely from their involvement in CJP initiatives as they are encouraged to ‘think outside of the box’, engage in problem-solving, collaborate with various stakeholders in local government and the community, participate in meetings of grassroots and civil rights organisations, and use their legal skills to benefit those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Working on CJP projects has the added advantage of empowering law students to understand the importance of giving back to the community and the great responsibility that comes with having an advanced degree – a responsibility that is often under-emphasised throughout the law school experience. Finally, by meeting with, collaborating with, and speaking on behalf of the community, law students become more culturally competent and able to interact with people from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic levels.

A curriculum that focuses on principles of Ubuntu should be used as the foundation for developing each student’s leadership capabilities and reinforcing a more meaningful commitment to service. Ubuntu ‘affirms a higher notion of what it means to be human. It suggests that all people, and communities of people, are a source of power and creativity. It is an affirmation of the possibilities of the human spirit, and the power of authentic human-to-human engagement’. This higher notion is the ideal commitment of the legal profession to create access to justice, promote fairness, and ensure equity for the poorest members of our society. Clinical professors play an indispensable role in training the next generation of agents of social change and thus should be willing to place a much needed emphasis on social justice issues in the clinical curriculum.