Now with added technology: change and continuity for the IJCLE


Editorial 

Now with Added Technology: change and continuity for the IJCLE  

Elaine Hall 

Northumbria University, UK 

 

Welcome to the first online edition of the International Journal of Clinical Legal 

Education.  The IJCLE archive, which is gradually building up on this site, 

demonstrates the strength and breadth of the work done in clinic around the world 

and in the online edition we intend to make this work easier to access, more 

interlinked and with a greater impact on research, theory and practice.  One of the 

ways in which we will be helping readers to navigate is by grouping papers in 

strands1. 

• Clinic, the University and Society: this strand addresses the role of clinic as an 

instrument for civic engagement, access to justice and societal change.   

• Teaching and Learning in Clinic: this strand investigates the curriculum, 

pedagogy and assessment used to prepare students for and support students 

during their clinical experience.  

• Research and Impact:  this strand will focus on the evidence base for clinical 

education and will explore the weight of evidence and the knowledge claims.  

1 More details of the strands, instructions for authors and review policy can be found on the website under 
About The Journal 

                                                           

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The papers will develop our conception of the impact of clinic by giving the 

rigorous presentation of a range of empirical data a strong critical and 

epistemological frame.  Papers in this strand may therefore have a topic focus 

from another strand but the balance of the paper will be weighted towards an 

exploration of the research methods used (in a report of a particular empirical 

study) or of the balance of approaches to research in CLE (in a review of 

existing studies). 

The articles in this journal are freely available in a form of Open Access that is often 

referred to as Platinum, since it has the immediate availability of Gold Access, 

without the Author Processing Charges sometimes associated with that model.  This 

approach allows us to spread the word about clinical education as efficiently as 

possible and continues the long tradition of the IJCLE of inclusion and dialogue.  We 

welcome submissions from practitioners from all legal and educational jurisdictions 

and from allied fields. 

The IJCLE will appear three times a year in Summer, Autumn and Spring editions, 

containing as before a mixture of Reviewed Articles and Practice Reports and in a new 

feature, From the Field: discussions about the role of clinic and development news.  In 

this edition Maxim Tomoszek from the Czech Republic reflects on the underlying 

beliefs and assumptions of clinical education and how this has impacted upon the 

development of clinic in Olomouc.  He makes a particularly telling comparison 

drawn from the adoption of judicial councils in Europe and raises some interesting 

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questions about the advantages and disadvantages of both innovation and 

conservatism. 

Richard Owen presents the innovative use of technology to encourage reflective 

dialogue with and about young offenders in his article in the Clinic, the University 

and Society strand.  However, the technology is perhaps merely the vehicle for the 

truly innovative element in this work, which is a form of advocacy that foregrounds 

voices rarely heard in the criminal law process.  Young offenders in this study reflect 

on the impact of their crimes and on what place they can now claim in society whilst 

members of the public interact with the text messages and contribute reflective 

interviews on the same topics.  As society’s conceptualisation of ‘lawyers’ work’ 

moves beyond advice and representation in court, projects like this prepare us and 

our students for a wider role in civic society.  

In the Teaching and Learning in Clinic strand we have two papers that pick up on this 

theme in very different ways.  Shaun McCarthy takes as his focus the increasing use 

of tribunals and argues for a specific skill-set for this less adversarial arena.  The 

development of these skills through an experiential pedagogy within the specific 

context of mental health raises important issues for students not just about tailoring 

their argumentation and presentation but more deeply about their role in co-

constructing situations where vulnerable people’s voices can be heard. 

Liz Curran and Tony Foley engage with the thorny issue of quality and how this 

relates to our assessment of students’ performance in clinic.  In their paper they 

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draw our focus to one of the key tensions of clinic between a manageable 

educational experience and the provision of a high quality legal service.  Their case 

studies highlight the importance of a range of feedback opportunities and structures 

so as to provide for ourselves, our students and the clients in clinic a more nuanced 

understanding of quality. 

We hope that you find much to stimulate thought and discussion in this issue, that 

this will prompt you to respond with your own ideas as future articles, that you will 

suggest improvements and additions to the journal and website and of course, that 

you will forward the link to the website to colleagues everywhere!  A final, personal 

note: it is also my first edition as Managing Editor and I would like to thank Jonny 

Hall for his stewardship of the journal and also to thank Maureen Cooke for helping 

to manage the editorial transition.  A dedicated and very patient team of technicians 

and library staff have made this online journal a reality and our heartfelt thanks go 

to them. 

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