Teaching self-reflection to law students in a dispute resolution unit

Dispute resolution units in the law curriculum provide an opportunity for students to practise and develop their self-reflective skills. This article discusses the justifications for using self-reflection in dispute resolution teaching and explains the importance of defining clearly what is meant by reflection in a particular context. It describes the way that self-reflection was taught, embedded into learning activities and assessed in an undergraduate dispute resolution unit at the University of Tasmania. Some preliminary results of an evaluation of the use of self-reflection in the unit are also presented. These tend to validate the strategies that were adopted to inform students about the meaning of self-reflection and what was required of them in assessment tasks.