Open AccessCOLLABORATIVE POLICY-MAKING, LAW STUDENTS, AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE: THE REWARDS OF DESTABILIZING INSTITUTIONAL PATTERNS
Author(s) -
Brea Lowenberger,
Michaela Keet,
Janelle Anderson
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
windsor yearbook of access to justice/the windsor yearbook of access to justice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2561-5017
pISSN - 0710-0841
DOI - 10.22329/wyaj.v34i1.5010
Subject(s) - economic justice , social justice , sociology , political science , public administration , public defender , law , public relations , law and economics , criminal justice
Heightened concerns and dialogue about access to justice have infused the law school setting in Saskatchewan and, to varying degrees, across the country. If there ever were a time to approach social justice reform differently – to upset traditional parameters around decision making and step around older hierarchies for input and design – it would be now. This article describes the Dean’s Forum on Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice (colloquially known as the Dean’s Forum) as a platform for genuine student engagement in the development of public policy in this important area. We offer our combined reflections, gathered inside our “teaching team,” about the unique pedagogical features of our experiment and its challenges. As we continue to grow with the project, we offer this Saskatchewan story as one example of institutional collaboration in a quickly evolving educational and social policy landscape.