Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

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TOOLS FOR THE CLINICAL PROFESSOR:
APPLYING GROUP DEVELOPMENT THEORY
TO COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN LAW
SCHOOL MEDIATION CLINICS
Donna Erez Navot*

This article examines the theory of group development and
collaborative learning as applied to the small group law school
mediation clinic. In contrast to the large group traditional law school
experience, a clinical legal education, composed of smaller groups,
embraces collaborative learning that fosters professional and
emotional growth among students. Group development often involves
four stages: inclusion, control, affection, and termination.
By drawing on the author’s pedagogical experiences as a clinical
law professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School Mediation
Clinic, the author applies the four stages of group development to
clinical legal education. The article finds that through an
understanding and application of group development theory, clinical
law school professors, especially ones who teach in small groups, can
better support their students’ legal and emotional learning.
“The concept of group development is quite compelling. The idea
that a group is more than the sum of its human parts and that group’s
move through predictable phases or stages is at once fascinating and
a bit threatening.”1

INTRODUCTION
As a former social worker and current clinical law professor at the
University of Wisconsin Law School Mediation Clinic, I have had the