Ben Madison Presents on Helping Millennials Develop Self-Reflection

In July 2017, Professor Benjamin Madison gave a presentation entitled “Helping Millennials Develop Self-Reflection,” during which he asked the audience to "consider how reflection over time can lead to clarity of values, to ethical boundaries, and even to recognition of areas in which has a passion that her legal training can fulfill."

In conjunction with the new ABA Standard 302, the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning’s (ILTL) Summer Conference focused on teaching professional skills proposed by the new standard.

Part of the purpose of the presentation was to receive feedback from other professors on how to integrate the new standard. “This will in particular help the faculty coaches in facilitating accurate self-assessments, and encouraging students to use the results of the process,” Madison said.
Madison also saw this as an opportunity “to have some of the best minds in legal education help with something that our entire faculty is working through in the Foundations of Practice course.”
As part of that course, started last year, students will take a self-assessment test through the School of Psychology and Counseling. Madison says that it is unusual to have two unique schools collaborating effectively.

Prior to the presentation, Madison contacted Carissa Dwiwardani, Associate Professor and Psychological Services Center Director at Regent University, to discuss how exactly young people (i.e. Millennials) respond to criticism. Madison notes that in his research he found that Millennial-aged people have high levels of self-esteem in comparison to older generations, but the same sources say that Millennials are less open to criticism.

“The challenge is how best for us to help students with self-assessment,” Madison said. “By raising the issue we saw that students struggled to get accurate self-assessment or to connect their goals with what steps they need to take to get there. I was able to get excellent input from educators at other schools on ideas we can implement.”