Before I entered the field of judicial education a little less than a year ago, I spent the previous twenty years as a college professor. Teaching was something I had to learn on my own, through trial and error. I would have profited enormously from guidelines and suggestions of the type provided in these materials.
My lack of experience and expertise in this field was made painfully obvious as I embarked upon this endeavor. As I started reading the materials, my first reaction was that examples should be provided. I then discovered that excellent examples were provided. I considered the examples and determined that they would be even better if they were expanded upon with the introduction of each new topic. I then discovered that this Curriculum Design did precisely that.
It was at this point that I faced the humbling realization that I probably have nothing earth-shattering to add at this early point in my judicial education career. Thus, most of my observations will come in the form of praising what is presented, rather than suggesting what needs to be added.
I will have to say that the entry-level content was more meaningful to a relative newcomer such as myself. In fact, I wish I would have been provided this assignment nine months ago, because reading the curriculum resource provided an excellent understanding of the foundational aspects of judicial education. I am probably the perfect audience to attest to their value for new members of the profession.
One of the elements that I appreciated was the manner in which the preferred model was presented. Rather than simply state, “We the experts have concluded that this is the way it should be done,” I liked how the preferred model was presented in the context of other approaches. At first, I questioned the presentation of the other ideas that would be discounted, but their presence enhances the credibility of the preferred model.
Another element I liked about the materials was their comprehensiveness, covering every stage of the process, from the point at which an idea is being considered to the development of a program and culminating in the ways to evaluate the success of the program. This step-by-step examination is a resource that is worth its weight in gold.
Yet another aspect of the materials I liked was that it did not utilize a “one size fits all” approach. It presents options and allows judicial educators to make the call about which approach works best.
I like the way the material is presented, a fantastic combination of principles, concepts, examples, and helpful hints. Whether it is an examination of the pros and cons of different teaching methodologies and course structure or a presentation of charts dealing with learning objectives, resources and participant activities, these materials offer a multitude of relevant insights.
A number of crises in courthouses throughout Missouri in recent months has demonstrated the need for clerks in supervisory positions to receive more effective training. It has fallen on me to design this course. The ultimate compliment I can pay to the NASJE materials is that I will rely upon them extensively in creating this course.
The experienced-level material was more difficult for a number of reasons.
First of all, there is the obvious factor that this material deals with a level of complexity that my program has yet to achieve. Not only am I new to the field, we as a judicial education department are facing the “political issues” mentioned in the materials and battling with judges over the direction of education.
Thus, some aspects of these materials, such as learning domains and schema models, seemed beyond my level of expertise at this point. On the other hand, there were any number of subjects covered in this material that seemed very useful, including the example of the instructional design associated with the Ethics course. In addition, the activities associated with the hypothetical input from the state court administrator were very enlightening, putting the reader in the position of having to use the material that had been presented.
*** Anthony Simones has been the Manager of Judicial Education in Missouri for almost a year. Holding a JD and PhD from the University of Tennessee, Dr. Simones has been a professor of government, law and criminal justice at Missouri State University, Columbia College, and Dalton State College. He is the recipient of the Missouri Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence and is a three-time nominee for the Carnegie Foundation’s United States Professor of the Year.
While the focus of judicial branch education is to design and deliver relevant content to judges and court staff, at some point we all get to wear the hat of event planner and must select a venue in which to deliver the content. While selecting a venue for your next conference, seminar or training event, keep the following things in mind:
1) Target Audience Size
This means the number of people you are expecting to attend your event. Make sure that your venue can easily accommodate your expected target audience. Your venue should not be too small or too large for your audience. If too small, then your participants will feel discomfort. If it is too large then you will unnecessarily end up paying more for the venue.
2) Target Audience Convenience
Select venue according to target audience convenience. Your venue should not be very far from the place where the majority of your target audience works, if possible. Your venue should have proper lighting and ventilation. It should not be in a noisy or polluted area. It should be absolutely neat and clean.
3) Venue History
Before selecting a venue, check out the location’s history. Find out how many events have been organized in the venue so far. In this way you can find out whether or not venue and the staff there are event friendly.
4) Venue Services
Before hiring a venue check out the number of services provided by the venue such as:
Parking facility
Make sure venue has its own parking space. It should be big enough to accommodate your target audience’s vehicles conveniently. If parking space is not adequate, then look for another venue.
Security Arrangements
Security of participants, service providers and target audience is a very important issue that should never be neglected or compromised at any cost. Make sure that your venue has adequate numbers of fire extinguishers, fire alarms, emergency escape routes, sprinkler system (a system consists of overhead pipes designed to control or extinguish fires), security personnel, handicap ramps, security cameras, first aid kits and power backup (like generator, inverter, UPS). Your venue must have separate entrance and exit gates and it should not be more than 30 minutes away from the nearest hospital. If your venue is at a remote location then presence of doctor and ambulance is a must. Also make sure your mobile phone properly works there.
Venue Staff
Your venue must have an adequate number of staff to serve your participants. Find out the ratio of servers to participants if providing a meal. The venue staff members must be friendly, helpful and courteous. In addition, they should be appropriately dressed. Ask you venue manager whether or not the staff is able and willing to work overtime.
Additional Services
Some venues provide additional services like catering, floral decoration, audio-visual aids, staging, lighting, and transportation.
5) Venue Fees
Ask the following questions from the venue manager before signing a contract:
What is the venue fee? Are you tax exempt? (Negotiate rental fee to ensure the best deal.)
What is included in the venue fee? Are table, chairs and linens included in the venue fee? Is security and liability coverage included in the venue fees?
What is not included in the venue fee?
Is there any cost for parking? Generally parking space is provided free of charge by the venue but some venues may charge separately for parking.
What is the price range for a seated/buffet lunch and dinner?
What is the cost of sleeping rooms? Do government rates apply?
What is your cost per person and per food item?
What are your fees and how do you charge for providing additional services? Such as audio-visual aids, staging, lighting, etc.
What modes of payments are available?
What are your payment, refund and cancellation policies?
6) Venue Inspection
Inspect the venue in advance of booking your event. Make sure air conditioners, fans, and water coolers work properly, and elevators are operational. Check for adequate lighting and ventilation and for sanitation and infestation. Find out how helpful, courteous and professional the venue staff is.
By M. Christy Tull, Manager, Curriculum Development, Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College
“The purpose of any program of continuing judicial education is to provide a process…to improve judicial performance, and thereby, the quality of justice,” according to a 1993 University of New South Wales law journal article on the need for judicial education.”
As Judicial Branch Educators, we believe this statement to be true. But what evidence do we have that we help make the difference?
Judicial Branch Education is an “Evidence-based” Practice
Released in August 2011, a study by The Ohio State University (OSU) is now added to a young body of research that shows that judicial branch education based on adult learning principles is an “evidence-based” practice. After a year-long impact study, OSU found that the Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College courses are “effective at contributing to changes in knowledge, attitudes, and skills/behaviors” of judges and magistrates. While this study focused specifically on juvenile court judges and magistrates, the findings are widely applicable to other jurisdictions and court personnel. In addition to this significant finding, the OSU researchers found that judges form a strong Community of Practice through their participation in Judicial College courses and activities. “This community serves as a catalyst for development of judicial expertise among juvenile judges and through which the effectiveness of judicial education is enhanced.”
“The Judicial College’s pursuit of excellence in its activities and course offerings was the impetus for this evaluation,” OSU Associate Professor Ann A. O’Connell said. “We found that the judicial education provided through the Judicial College does promote excellence and expertise among both new and experienced juvenile judges. Our hope is that these findings will contribute to local as well as national-level discussions about the fundamental role of evaluation in the design and delivery of professional development for juvenile judges.” Professor O’Connell teaches at the College of Education and Human Ecology and is Section Head of the Program in Quantitative Research, Evaluation, and Measurement, School of Educational Policy and Leadership. Graduate student, Joy Edington, assisted with this impact study.
Report’s Use by Other Judicial Branch Education Organizations
While Ohio-focused, the findings in this report – that what we do matters – can support the work of all NASJE members locally, nationally, and internationally. This study is one of only a few attempts at a rigorous examination, under academic research standards, of the effectiveness of our efforts to educate the judiciary and its staff. It is gratifying to Ohio and hopefully our NASJE colleagues to have this solid evidence affirming that the work we do makes a positive impact on the quality of justice dispensed in the courts.
Need to Continue Best Practices
To ensure long-term, high-quality and effective continuing judicial branch education, the OSU researchers offered a “best practice” model that is a good guide to be shared. The following are best practices to maintain and further our leadership in professional development through judicial branch education, based on OSU’s literature review and evaluation findings:
Align desired courses and curricula with organizational and national objectives, and with individual or group standards and needs whenever possible (think curriculum-based education and learning objectives);
Customize and tailor training and assessment/evaluation to individual judges’ jurisdictional demographics and other relevant factors such as the judges’ number of years experience on the bench;
Design and Deliver professional development courses and sessions to incorporate a variety of techniques and that emphasize networking and engagement in a Community of Practice;
Assess courses using course-specific and objectives-based methods; and
Follow-up to examine outcomes of professional development and establish real-time corrections for optimal professional development outcomes
Do we – Judicial Branch Educators – make a difference? The answer is YES. And we now have one more study to show that judicial branch education based on adult learning principles is an “evidence-based” practice.
The relatively new and increasingly used word unretirement conjures up many different thoughts and emotions. Applying reductionism, two of these emotions are as simple as the Facebook expressions “like” and “unlike.” Merriam Webster’s dictionary indicates origins of the term as early as the mid-1960s. But use of unretirement is still new enough that computer spell check does not even recognize the term and keeps suggesting use of the word retirement instead. At any rate, and for better or worse, the term unretirement exists because of the economic downturn in contemporary American society, and the acute need for the retirement-aged workforce to reconsider employment or re-employment options.
According to Maestas (2004), “Nearly one-half of retirees follow a non-traditional retirement path that involves partial retirement and/or unretirement.” If you find yourself one of the “nearly one-half “ of retirees in the United States who will be seeking re-employment, or if you have had a long-term career and are now considering a career change or even advancement within your chosen profession, this article is the first in a series meant to help you navigate your way to a new career using web-based technologies.
One clarification from the beginning: locating employment continues to maintain many vestiges of the traditional job hunting process of which baby-boomers and other age cohorts are intimately familiar. Hand-written follow up letters, firm handshakes, and feet-to-the-ground networking remain unparalleled in importance. There exist, however, innumerable opportunities for innovation and creativity within the traditional employment processes using social media and other electronic means. Though baby-boomers, and to a lesser extent other age cohorts, wince at the very mention of social media, these contemporary technologies greatly enhance one’s marketability. Current research indicates that only about one-third of baby-boomers utilize social media networking sites (see Hampton et al., 2011). [NOTE: Baby-boomers are defined as those individuals aged 46-64 who were born between 1946-1964.] They provide a prospective applicant with solutions to both stand out in the current challenging career climate, and more control over how professional information is transmitted to potential employers.
Résumés, CVs and Portfolios: Websites Enhance Marketability
Combining tradition and innovation, job seekers can add an additional dimension to hard copy résumés, curriculum vitae and portfolios by creating an on-line professional profile with existing websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and CareerLab.com. Each website exhibits unique advantages for the job search. Among these advantages are the ability to network with potential employers, locate employment and professional opportunities, aggressively market oneself (and others), and appear “near the top” in searches performed using Google and Yahoo. According to a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management (2011), “More than half (56%) of the organizations currently use social networking websites when recruiting potential job candidates. This is a significant increase since 2008, when a little over one-third (34%) of organizations were using these sites as a recruiting tool.” Referencing the same study, the social networking website most used by organizations for recruitment in 2011 was LinkedIn, which was reportedly used by 95% of respondents. Facebook was the second most used social networking site for recruitment, with 58% reported usage among respondents.
If you find yourself among the cohort that has yet to experiment with the aforementioned websites, please know that the websites are intuitive, offer excellent step-by-step instructions for developing and uploading online documents, can offer assistance in the event that difficulties arise, and best of all are either free or low-cost. And much like a professional job coach, they give a gentle nudge regarding the importance of keeping updated, professional documents on-hand even if you aren’t currently in the job market.
Transitions
Writing in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communications, Boyd and Ellison (2007) define social networking sites as,
“…web-based services that allow individuals to 1) construct a profile or semi-public profile within a bounded system, 2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and 3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.”
Embarking on the process of electronic networking and information sharing is less like a “new beginning” and more akin to a transition; you are intimately familiar with the data reflecting your life’s work, and use of social media simply vaults your information and expertise into a contemporary, easily accessed format. You can begin with what you already have: your portfolio, your résumé, your CV. This transition process generally takes just a few minutes and is a matter of copying and pasting your existing material into this new social media format. You will quickly find that several functions on LinkedIn, Facebook, and CareerLab.com are very familiar, including the ability to
Highlight current and past professional experiences. This function allows the job seeker to list dates of employment, position title, company name and location, along with examples of how you met or exceeded the responsibilities of those positions.
List educational attainment, professional affiliations, and interests.
Write an executive or professional summary
Next, we seek to concentrate on functions of LinkedIn, Facebook, and CareerLab.com that are powerful tools for the job seeker. These functions, and resulting ideas, are by no means an exhaustive list of what can be accomplished using employment-driven social media. Instead, the following serves as a quick reference to aspects of social media that we have found particularly useful, especially for individuals just starting to explore new tools of the employability trade.
LinkedIn
According to a 2010 article appearing in CNN Money, “recruiters rely on the site [LinkedIn] to hire even the highest caliber executives.” The same article continues to explain the average user of LinkedIn “is a college-educated 43-year-old making $107,000 [per year]. More than a quarter are senior executives.”
According to prdaily.com, “Executives from every Fortune 500 [firm] could be found on LinkedIn in 2010.” LinkedIn can be a very powerful tool in locating (or being located) for your next job. Below are several functions that will allow your LinkedIn account to help you achieve unretirement:
Make the most of the connections you have made during your career by requesting recommendations from colleagues. LinkedIn provides the ability to have recommendations published verbatim on your profile. This function allows potential employers to view, for example, what others have said about you, your work ethic, and the arenas in which you excel. Consider how imperative recommendations are to a salesperson’s ability to make a sale. In looking for a job, we take on some fundamental responsibilities of a salesperson, insofar, as we are “selling” our skills, experience, and potential. Accordingly, detailed recommendations from other experienced professionals can have a serious impact on our likelihood of locating employment. This recommendation function gives others the opportunity to assist you in selling what you have to offer, with LinkedIn providing the forum for you to transmit these recommendations to potential employers.
Build connections. These connections serve as valuable networking tools to find out about position openings, exchange information with potential employers, interact with other professionals, and to learn about company culture or the health of an industry. In fact, LinkedIn provides the ability to send messages to anyone with a LinkedIn profile. Although certainly no substitute for a formal follow-up letter delivered via traditional mail service, the ability to send messages can be a helpful means of following-up with an employer, directing the employer’s attention to your on-line professional portfolio, and standing out amid the many résumés that were undoubtedly received by the employer.
Perform “detective work” by locating information about hiring managers, including professional background, affiliations, references, and interests. Knowing this information could give you an advantage in an interview by providing tailored talking points. Additionally, you may be able to locate the individual who most recently had the job to which you are now applying. This data might be beneficial to determine how you “match up” to someone currently working with that company as well as provide insight into the overall organizational health and advancement opportunities.
Promote your blog or website by linking them to your LinkedIn account. In doing so, you can provide potential employers with great insight into your technical savvy by way of your website design, further examples of your excellent writing ability, or snapshots of public speaking virtuosity as demonstrated in video clips. Ultimately, this LinkedIn function allows candidates to showcase diverse abilities and accomplishments in a non-intrusive way, while providing more detailed information to employers about the repertoire of the applicant. For instance, I recently developed a website for my small business and linked the website to both my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. My intention was not necessarily to market products, but to market my business model and to add a further dimension to my stated experience as a business owner. The result is an increased awareness among my social media contacts of my diverse skill set, community involvement, and productivity outside of my full-time employment in workforce development. I recently created a website for free utilizing Google sites (www.sites.google.com) and am in the process of creating a blog, also for free, utilizing Blogger (www.blogger.com). A quick search using Google or Yahoo will yield many more results for website and blog creation. You might want to consider purchasing a domain name for your site (this is generally a great investment for as little as $10.00 per year). This purchase might allow you to use your name or any name as your web address. For instance, the name of my business is Commonwealth Framing, after purchasing the domain name, my website is www.commonwealthframing.com.
Share an update. This function allows you to publish updates and attach files in order to inform your networks of your professional activity and productivity. For instance, you can attach a file containing a press release of an initiative you have been involved with. In doing so, you are providing an immediate update of your professional involvement in addition to directing attention to your LinkedIn profile. Facebook will also allow you to share an update with your networks. I recently shared a press release on LinkedIn and Facebook from my local paper. Sharing this information was important for at least three reasons: 1) It informed my networks of the progress I have made in my current position (my networks would not have otherwise read my town’s newspaper). 2) It provided some level of substantiation for my current position description and responsibilities as they appear on my LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. 3) It directed my networks to visit my profile, allowing for further advertising of my experience and skills.
Facebook
Facebook, because of its prevalent usage, has impacted the way individuals communicate.
According to Facebook.com, there are 750 million active users of the social networking website. Due to its wide usage and helpful features, Facebook can be useful for someone seeking unretirement. Just last week, I posted a status update related to this article. My post read: “Robert Boone is exploring uses of social media for a workforce navigating economic downturn. Anyone have insight into how Facebook helped you, or someone you know, locate employment?” The comments received from my networks were varied. One person commented that she learned of a position vacancy from a Facebook contact. Through her contact, she was able create a dialogue about the position, submit her résumé to the hiring manager, and receive an interview and job offer. Without Facebook, she explained, she would not have known about the position vacancy. Another one of my contacts commented that he had not located a job via Facebook, but something better…his wife! Focusing on the job search, Facebook can allow you to:
Create an on-line photo and video portfolio. Facebook gives the job seeker the wonderful ability to post pictures and create albums related to projects you have been involved with. In addition, you can post video clips of lectures, presentations, video résumés, and award ceremonies directly to your profile, allowing potential employers to view your professional accomplishments.
Establish networks and begin professional dialogues. This is the key to using Facebook as a job search tool. You will need to develop a list of networks, also known as “friends” in Facebook language. From this list of networks, you can communicate via messages, wall posts, status updates, notes, or on-line chat. A friend used the status update feature to make the following update: “Is looking for job openings at XYZ Company. Does anyone have contacts there?” In response to the status update, he received messages with names of hiring managers. He then looked up the hiring managers on LinkedIn and sent out messages detailing his interest in working for the company. The managers had immediate view of his on-line portfolio. The following month he was offered a job.
Make wall posts and allow for comments. Central to every Facebook account is a wall that is used for postings and status updates. Utilizing this feature, you can post professional articles, advances in your field, and personal accomplishments to further encourage dialogue, comments, and networking. This feature helps you to be viewed by networks and potential employers as someone who stays up-to-date and who is passionate about their professional involvement and development.
Visit Facebook job boards. Many organizations of all sizes have a Facebook page. Often, these organizations will post job openings and other opportunities on their Facebook wall. Simply use the search function on Facebook to locate the organization of interest. Once the organization is located, scroll through their Facebook wall to search for job postings. For example, you can visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/MaysvilleCTC, scroll through announcements, and view a job posting that we posted on August 25 for Maysville Community and Technical College. On a side note, organizations generally use their Facebook page for press releases and to announce special initiatives and events. In reviewing this information, one can learn a great deal of helpful information about the organization. This information can prove to be useful as you prepare for an interview or simply gather more data about the organization. Two great Facebook pages to visit include The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and The National Center for State Courts.
Career Lab
CareerLab.com is another great on-line resource that allows the (soon-to-be) unretiree to develop an on-line presence for the job search. CareerLab.com allows the user to develop an executive profile that is especially helpful for its direction and organization. For example, your profile will have a series of tabs such as: Welcome, Contact, Job Targets, Experience, Interview, References, and Personal. Each tab adds direction and depth to your portfolio. As an employer searchers tab-by-tab, they have the opportunity to view a holistic snapshot of your professional life that cannot be captured in traditional résumés, portfolios, or CV’s.
Helpful functions of the executive profile from CareerLab.com include:
The interview tab of your executive profile is arguably the most useful and unique function. This tab allows you to select and answer a series of interview questions ranging from “what is your definition of success” to “what is your typical workday.” These questions give you an advantage by providing a great forum to “discuss” what kind of an employee you are and what kind of employee you will be. Additionally, this function can allow you to tailor interview questions based on positions that you are currently seeking. It is a wonderful tool to take control of one of the most powerful commodities of the job search: the interview.
The ability to have a unique URL (web address) to include on business cards, e-mail signatures, stationary, job boards, Facebook, LinkedIn, even traditional résumés. This URL directs potential employers to your executive portfolio and widens your networks.
Along the same lines as widening your networks, the executive profile allows you to share your professional experience with others without loudly announcing your job search. This portfolio can be viewed as another method to exchange professional information with other professionals. Keep this networking mantra in mind: the more people you have working for you, the more likely you are to find work.
So on a quiet Sunday afternoon as you contemplate your unretirement, career change or climb up the corporate ladder, settle down at your favorite PC without wincing and introduce the world (well, ok, at least a few targeted industries) with all that you have to offer!
Boyd, D.M. and Ellison, N.B. (2007) Social network sites. Definition, history and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13: 201-230. doi.10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x
Hagel, J. & Brown, J. (2011, January 31). Five tips for better social networking. Retrieved September 2, 2011, from http://blogs.hbr.org/bigshift/2011/01/five-tips-for-smarter-social-n.html
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Hempel, J. (2010, March 25). How linkedin will fire up your career. Retrieved September 2, 2001, from http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/
Maestas, N. (2004). Back to work: expectations and realizations of work after retirement. University of Michigan Retirement Research Center, Working Papers: 2004-085 http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50534/1/wp085.pdf
Sebastian, M. (2011, May 22). Inforgraphic: executives from every fortune 500 company can be found on linkedin. Retrieved September 2, 2011, from http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Infographic_Executives_from_every_Fortune_500_can_8338.aspx
Society for Human Resources Management. (2011). Social networking websites and staffing. Retrieved August 31, 2011, from http://www.shrm.org/about/pressroom/PressReleases/pages/SocialNetworking.aspx
Robert Boone serves in Workforce Development at TENCO Workforce Investment Board, Maysville, KY. Currently, Mr. Boone is working to develop and provide a variety of supportive services to nursing students enrolled in a Department of Labor funded training program that focuses on the career placement of dislocated, unemployed, and incumbent workers into medically underserved areas of Kentucky. Prior to this experience, Mr. Boone served as a department head for a long-term care and rehabilitation facility in Athens, GA. Mr. Boone’s interests include Economic and Workforce Development, Small Business Development, and Historic Preservation. Mr. Boone received his education from Morehead State University and The University of Georgia.
With funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center for Court Innovation and The National Judicial College have launched the development and evaluation of a national demonstration project that will attempt to improve procedural justice in an urban criminal court setting. The project was born out of research showing that litigants’ perceptions of procedural justice (the perceived fairness of the procedures they experience in the courthouse) exert more influence on their overall view of the justice system than distributive justice (the perceived fairness of the case outcome). The goal of the project is to translate the key principles of procedural justice into a training curriculum that will be administered in an urban criminal courtroom – aimed at improving staff’s verbal and non-verbal communication practices – then evaluate the impact of those changed practices on defendant perceptions of fairness.
To begin, project partners convened a working group of experts in January 2011 at the Center for Court Innovation’s headquarters in New York City. The group was comprised of judges, attorneys, court administrators, and communications and linguistics specialists from around the country, including
Greg Berman – Director, Center for Court Innovation
Kevin Burke – Judge, Hennepin County (MN) Family Justice Center
William Dressel – President, National Judicial College
Malcolm Feeley – Professor of Legal Theory, University of California-Berkeley
Mark Juhas – Judge, Los Angeles County (CA) Superior Court
Judy Harris Kluger – Chief of Policy and Planning, New York State Unified Court System
Noreen Sharp – Former Special Deputy Court Administrator for the Maricopa County (AZ) Superior Court and former Division Chief Counsel of the Arizona
Office of the Attorney General
Alfred Siegel – Deputy Director, Center for Court Innovation
Larry Solan – Professor of Linguistics and the Law, Brooklyn Law School
Robin Steinberg – Executive Director, The Bronx Defenders
David Suntag – Judge, Vermont Judiciary
Kelly Tait – Communication Consultant and Instructor, University of Nevada
Tom Tyler – Professor of Social Psychology, New York University
Over the course of the two-day meeting, the working group set out to tackle the following objectives: (1) to outline a set of best practices in improved courtroom communication, (2) to inform the development of a training curriculum, and (3) to recommend court sites and/or the size and types of courts that might be appropriate for pilot implementation. (1) Outlining Best Practices
Toward the first objective, the discussion was organized around the key elements of procedural justice, developed in part by participant Tom Tyler – voice, respect, neutrality, understanding, and helpfulness. Participants sought to identify practical strategies by which criminal court judges and other courthouse staff can translate these principles into practice, both inside and outside of the courtroom.
In the courtroom, suggested strategies included starting court on time and calendaring cases according to case type, both to improve efficiency and to demonstrate respect for defendants’ time. The group also suggested that judges provide a brief introduction for the courtroom audience at the beginning of each court session — explaining the rules, format and purpose of the court proceedings. As part of this introduction, it was recommended that judges acknowledge their appreciation for everyone’s attendance and cooperation in getting through what can be a stressful experience. Simple and clear signs around the courthouse and courtroom can reinforce this message.
The working group then considered procedural justice strategies to implement during each defendant’s court appearance. It was recommended that cases be called clearly and loudly by name and that each defendant should be greeted by the judge. To ensure the defendant’s understanding, the judge should explain the purpose of the court appearance in plain language. Special consideration was given to defendants who are detained pre-trial.
The group addressed the role that defense attorneys can play in promoting defendant comprehension, as well as facilitating that each defendant’s voice is heard, without jeopardizing his/her legal rights. At the end of the proceeding, the group recommended that all defendants leave court with easy-to-understand written and oral instructions regarding the next steps in their case, including the date and purpose of their next court appearance, orders of protection, and/or conditions of probation or other court-mandated sanctions.
The working group stressed that the interactions among all courtroom staff – whether or not court is in session – are important to promoting procedural justice. Judges should be advised that admonishing attorneys or other courtroom staff in front of defendants and audience members may appear to demonstrate a lack of respect and/or neutrality. The group also recommended that the pilot training include as many courthouse staff as possible. In particular, the group stressed the importance of engaging security personnel in advancing procedural justice, as they are often the first staff with whom a defendant or audience member interacts at the courthouse.
(2) Curriculum Development
The working group also offered suggestions as to how the above content might be translated into a day-long curriculum, both for implementation at the pilot site and to be added to The National Judicial College’s general offerings. The working group proposed to start the training by grounding participants in the relevant social science research and debunking any myths. The two core recommendations for the training were developing listening skills and communication skills. It was suggested that participants evaluate themselves on these skills through a pre-training self-administered assessment and/or by observing a videotaping of their behavior in court. In addition to skills development, the training should focus on how participants can improve the appearance that they are listening and communicating effectively.
The working group recommended a range of learning activities to be used during the pilot training, such as role plays and simulations, ideally to take place in a courtroom setting. Pre- and post-course activities were recommended to extend the impact of the training.
(3) Pilot Site Selection
Finally, the working group helped to define the criteria for an appropriate pilot site. The starting criteria were that the court must hear criminal cases in an urban area that utilizes short-term sanctions (such as community service) for which compliance may be tracked during the grant period. The working group discussed the important balance of selecting a site where there was interest in reform but where widespread efforts to promote procedural justice had not yet been attempted. The group emphasized the importance of selecting a jurisdiction in which the administrative judge is fully supportive of the project – and can encourage the support of participants and other key players. They also advocated for a jurisdiction that is sufficiently large to have 10-20 criminal court judges.
In the weeks following the working group meeting, project staff have been working towards two major next steps: completing the curriculum and selecting a pilot site. The curriculum will be based largely on the findings of the working group, using 50-minute modules to address topics such as the role of procedural fairness in the court system, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, special populations, courthouse-wide issues, and implementing and measuring procedural fairness. The modular design of the curriculum will allow it to be presented as a full-day program, as individual modules, or in any combination that meets the educational requirements and time constraints of a particular educational setting. After the curriculum is piloted, the NJC plans to make the curriculum and supporting materials available to state judicial educators and court administrators for broader dissemination.
As for a pilot site, staff are working from a short list of possible criminal courts that meet the selection criteria. The pilot is scheduled to launch later this year.
The Center for Court Innovation is a non-profit think tank based in New York City that helps courts and criminal justice agencies aid victims, reduce crime and improve public trust in justice. For more information about this project, please contact Emily Gold, Senior Planner, at (646) 386-4468; golde@courtinnovation.org.
Emily Gold is the project manager for the Improving Courtroom Communication project. As a senior planner at the Center for Court Innovation, she is also on the planning team for a new community court geared toward young people to be located in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Before joining the Center for Court Innovation, she was a public defender in Manhattan.
An important function of judicial branch educators is to draw out the resources in the classroom—to build in interaction so everyone can learn from the different perspectives, experiences, and ideas of the participants. Facilitation skills are vital for encouraging the high level of participation that leads to deeper learning in adult education. Unfortunately, when the class size is large, many instructors hesitate to use activities that could be quite productive even—or sometimes especially—in large groups. They tend to over-rely on lecture and to count on a Q & A session or large class discussion for interaction, when in reality only a small percentage of people actually get to participate in those when the class is large.
It can be challenging to involve everyone in a large group (often considered 50 or more people), but if you put planning and effort into it, you can draw on all of the tools you have available as an instructor–large and small group discussions, debates, case studies, learning games, role plays, problem-solving, etc., in addition to lecture. This article will discuss general approaches to creating productive interaction in large classes as well as specific tips on how to do it.
Judge Jess Clanton facilitates a large class discussion at The National Judicial College
GENERAL APPROACHES
It is less overwhelming deciding how to get a large number of people to interact meaningfully and within time limits in your session if you think of participation on every level, from individuals to pairs, small groups, and the entire class. For instance, providing time for individuals to reflect on an issue or idea and then having them share it with a partner (“think-pair-share”) builds in a couple of types of learning and gets everyone in the room actively engaged, even if the class members number in the hundreds. It also only needs to take a couple of minutes.
Going one step further–to small groups of three or four people–is quite manageable in large classes in virtually any setting, and it doesn’t need to take a lot of time if the reason for and task of the group are well-conceived and the instructions are well-communicated. This number of learners in a small group allows varied perspectives while limiting the time necessary for group processing and also keeping the logistics fairly simple (members don’t need to move, are still able to hear each other, etc.). Too many instructors of large classes allow participants to lose the added perspectives as well the in-depth level of processing and practice that small groups can allow.
Don’t just use small groups for discussions—almost any activity that connects to the learning objectives can be worthwhile if participants are clear on what they’re supposed to do … and why. This might mean you explain the instructions for the activity as well as having them in writing, you model the behavior, then you have them work in small groups while you and some assistants circulate to answer questions. It also means including a strong debrief of the activity. (See below for more specific tips on this and other recommendations.)
Larger small groups, those with more than 4 or 5 people, generally require more time and planning to make sure everyone is involved, but there are things you can do to minimize the time issue. Some rooms can be set up to streamline the process of grouping – for instance, having table rounds with 5-8 people and having handouts/instructions already on the table. Use the number of people in a large class as an advantage—think of the resources in the room!—by having report-backs from the groups on one or two of their best ideas.
Some instructors avoid group activities with report backs because they know they won’t have time to hear from every group. This should NOT stop you—groups with a task that might be made public (such as in a report-back) often work harder toward the goal, and there are options that will allow acknowledgement of everyone’s contributions without taking an inordinate amount of time. For instance, have a limited number of groups do a brief report-back to the class but have all groups turn in a list that is then compiled and distributed. Of course, this takes follow-up, but it’s worth the time both to the instructor, who gets a lot of good ideas for future sessions, and to the participants, who get their ideas acknowledged and have a concrete take-away from the session.
That being said, there are many activities where no report-backs are necessary—you can incorporate a few observations you made as you circulated through the class during the activity on what took place in the groups and how it connects to the overall purpose of the session as a way to wrap up the activity.
Here are some specific tips on handling the complexities of interaction in large groups so that it’s a more productive experience for everyone:
TIP #1 – GIVE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS – IN WRITING
This step is important for all classes but is VITAL for large groups in particular. Even a relatively straightforward class discussion can be enhanced by having a clearly stated and clearly visible discussion question. Having the discussion question on a visual makes it more likely that people will stay on track and will reflect on the topic even when they’re not actively participating.
The clarity of the instructions can make or break an activity. Before you use them with a large group, I strongly recommend trying out your activity instructions and your activity on a volunteer or two similar to the anticipated participants. This allows you to adjust the instructions (and the activity, if necessary) so that you don’t have hundreds of eyes staring at you in confusion with the clock ticking.
If participants will work in small groups, give the instructions for the activity BEFORE you have them break into groups. The physical noise and mental engagement of grouping can override anything that’s being said. Also have the instructions in writing! There’s no bigger waste of time than people spending time trying to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing, and in a large group it can mean that people are off-task (and often quite irritated) for a chunk of time. The written instructions might be on a PowerPoint slide–if they can fit on one slide in 36 point font–or they might be on handouts.
Handouts can be in the binder (note the divider and page number before class), they could be distributed on the tables ahead of time (some possibilities: face down, on a different color of paper for ease of reference, in an envelope in the middle of the table), or they could have been counted into piles based on the highest number of people that will be at any one table/group and then be quickly distributed by assistants at the beginning of the activity.
When a large group is broken into small groups, there’s a high probability that some of the small groups will finish the primary task well before other groups. To make sure that those groups stay focused on the topic and use the time productively, I often have instructions that include additional tasks that build on the initial one. For instance, I might have instructions for the group to “Spend 5-7 minutes brainstorming at least 10 ideas for solving (problem). If you have time left, discuss the pros and cons of each idea. Then prioritize the ideas from most practical (#1) to least practical (#10).”
Consider including these types of information in your instructions:
Topic
Purpose of exercise (except in the few instances when you don’t want this announced up front)
Task(s) to be accomplished
Amount of time to be used
If using small groups: how to form groups including size of groups
Reinforce the goal of everyone contributing
Any product, such as report-back; if there is a report-back, tell them to choose a spokesperson
What to do if they finish the primary task early
For example, if you’re having groups analyze a case study, you could have the information listed above at the top of the handout, followed by the case study. In addition, especially if you’re going to discuss the case study as a whole class, it’s often helpful to have a bullet list of the salient points of the case to use in explaining the case and to refer to during the discussion.
If you plan an activity that some learners might be resistant to because it’s outside of their comfort zones (for instance, role-playing and learning games), be sure to include in the instructions/explanation a clear purpose and rationale for the activity—make the connection to concrete learning objectives obvious.
Consider having some basic groundrules for discussions: share the air, disagree without being disagreeable, no war stories, etc. It’s easier to follow the rules if you know what they are. If groundrules are established early, it’s also easier to respectfully redirect inappropriate behavior by calling back to the groundrules.
Also give oral time cues during activities to keep the process efficient: “We’re about halfway through.” “Two minutes left – don’t forget to choose a spokesperson.”
TIP #2 – HAVE ASSISTANTS
Effectively facilitating large group discussions and activities that are interactive depends in part on making sure you have a couple of people who can assist you. These can be other faculty members, event organizers, colleagues, or even participants if necessary. The larger the class, the more assistants you need. At the very least have someone stationed at the back of the room who can help keep participants on track and can draw your attention to issues that need to be addressed.
Let your assistants know what your expectations are, for instance: taking microphones around the room for comments/questions, lowering the front lights for video clips, helping people get into appropriate-sized groups, circulating during activities to answer questions, etc. In particular, make sure they’re familiar with any activities you plan to use (instructions, purpose, time limits). When people are working in small groups in a large class, you won’t be able to check in with every group. Assistants can help make sure everyone is clear on what they’re supposed to do and can let you know how groups are progressing.
TIP #3 – PROPERLY DESIGN AND USE AUDIO-VISUALS
Check the sound and lighting in the room—make sure you and an assistant know how to run the controls. Check line of sight for all visuals. Be especially aware of placement of screens, lighting directly over the screen (turn it off if possible), and placement of flip charts. Be cautious about darkening the entire room for any length of time—try to adjust the lighting so that visuals are easily visible but so are you and the participants.
Lettering on any visual aids needs to be large enough to be read in the most distant part of the room. Use a sans serif font (e.g., Ariel or Helvetica) and don’t use smaller than 36 point font for projected visuals such as PowerPoint. Use lettering at least 2” high when writing on white boards or flip charts. Test it in advance – see how it looks from the back of the room.
Request a lavaliere microphone (and test it ahead of time — are you noticing a theme here?). If one isn’t available, ask for a cordless handheld microphone. Have at least two other cordless microphones (or more, depending on the size of the group) along with assistants to move them around the room so participants’ comments can be heard by everyone. Keep in mind that there still might be times when you need to repeat a question or comment for the whole group.
If you have an audience response system available to you (with each participant getting a response pad, responses tracked and tabulated on the computer, and results graphed), determine if it would be useful for your topic. These systems can get everyone in a large class involved quickly and are great for quizzes, surveys, and anything where anonymity is a factor (for instance, ethics issues). However, I STRONGLY recommend having someone who is very familiar with the system run it during your session. You do not want to be the one who has to run it, troubleshoot it if necessary, and facilitate discussion of the results. Carefully construct the questions and do a test run of the equipment as well as of the wording ahead of time. Clear questions are much more difficult to write than we usually anticipate—try them out on someone.
With any equipment, if there are too many technical difficulties you will lose the class. Always have a back-up plan in case technology fails. What will you do if the video clip won’t play, the LCD projector dies, the Responder system won’t work? Think your options through before a problem arises so it’s more likely you can adapt quickly if (when) one does.
TIP #4 – SET UP THE ROOM FOR OPTIMAL PARTICIPATION
If you want to run small group discussions and activities during the session (which, as mentioned, is an excellent way to involve everyone) and you have some choice of room set up, decide what will best fit your needs and help achieve the learning objectives. Round tables are good for groups of 4-8 people, and the room is automatically separated into groups. Keep in mind that it’s better if round tables are filled to just three quarters capacity so some people don’t have their backs to the front of the room. Also remember that larger small groups (approximately 6-14 people) require more time, and there’s more possibility that some people won’t participate. In these groups consider designating a discussion leader for each table. Ideally brief these folks ahead of time on expectations, activity guidelines and goals, etc. Also make sure you’ve made accommodations for anyone with special needs.
If you’re in a room with fixed tables and/or chairs, it’s still relatively easy to have people work in groups of 2-4. Pairing up is the easiest, quickest way to get everyone involved, but it’s also easy to have one or two people interact with people at the table in front of or behind them. Be very clear about how to form groups: “Form groups of three or four—no more than four—by joining with people right next to you or in front of or behind you.” Again, you can also include this as part of the written instructions.
KEY—be sure you and assistants circulate through the room after telling people to break into groups to make sure everyone is part of a group and that there aren’t any extra-large groups—these can often be separated into two smaller groups so that everyone can hear and everyone gets a chance to talk. Remember that it’s easy for individuals to be left out when you have people pair up, so actively look for and pair up those individuals.
If you’re not sure how many people will be attending and you don’t want participants sparsely scattered around the room or clustered at the back, have enough seats for the highest number anticipated but put “Reserved” signs on the tables at the back of the room. Another option is having an open area at the back of the room with stacks of chairs that can be distributed if necessary. Make sure someone (not you) is in charge of monitoring seating needs, for instance, removing “Reserved” signs or distributing more chairs.
If you will be calling on table groups to share ideas with the class, consider having a centerpiece with the number (or letter) of the group highly visible to make it easier to refer to a particular table: Group 1, Group A, etc.
Tip #5 – PLAN HOW TO RECONVENE ON TIME
If you’re conducting a session that has a break in it, ask organizers how participants will be informed that it’s time to return to class. If someone isn’t already delegated–or even if someone is–ask your assistants to help herd participants back into the room as breaks end so time isn’t wasted. I bring a (pleasant sounding) bell to assist in getting people back from breaks, and also to regain their attention when a small group discussion/activity is wrapping up.
Other techniques for getting people back from a break include: –Have some kind of reward for being back on time, such as cartoons showing at the exact time they’re supposed to be in their seats; –Synchronize watches, and don’t just say how long the break is, also say the exact time the break will end. (“It’s a 15 minute break, so be back by 10:15.”) –Underline the time to be back with your voice and write it large on the board or a chart.
Tip # 6 – WRAP-UP/ DEBRIEF ACTIVITIES AND DISCUSSIONS
As mentioned, you should give time cues when nearing the point where an activity or discussion needs to be wrapped up. If there are report-backs planned, this could mean the “two minute warning” for when the small group portion ends and the report-backs begin as well as an idea of how long the report-back portion will last. You can signal the impending end of any activity, discussion, or Q & A segment by announcing “There’s time for just one more….”
Have a plan in mind for what to do if you feel there are more ideas/questions than can be handled during the session. For instance: –Let the learners know that you are collecting and will compile and distribute lists from groups; –Offer to answer questions following the presentation; –Have a chart near the entrance to the room where ideas and questions can be written to be addressed in later sessions; etc.
DON’T FORGET to clarify how the activity or discussion that’s wrapping up ties into the overall purpose of the session–help the participants process, generalize, and apply the information/lessons. It’s especially important to do this for any activities that are likely to be outside of some of the participants’ comfort zones. In general, debriefs should include a brief summary of what happened during the activity or discussion, why it might have happened that way, and what it means—how it connects to the session objectives and the bigger picture.
TIP #7 – HONE YOUR FACILITATION SKILLS
While all of the foregoing tips tap into elements of your facilitation skills, it never hurts to remember one of the most basic attributes of a good facilitator: have some latitude in your attitude. We all need to remind ourselves that being adaptable is fundamental to working well with large groups of people.
When you plan activities and discussions, analyze how you think they will turn out – and consider what you will do if the actual results differ from your expectations. For instance, if you give a quiz and participants do much better than you anticipated on it, you need to be able to draw conclusions and move them forward from that point, not just from the point you expected.
Use not only your words but also your nonverbal behaviors to facilitate interaction. Remember that a bigger room often requires bigger gestures if you want the impact to reach all the way to the back of the room. When you open it up for responses, physically open it up—invite responses by opening your arms wide, slightly raising your eyebrows, slowly sweeping the room with eye contact, and pausing long enough.
To make sure your pauses are long enough, count to yourself—wait 7-10 seconds to allow participants time enough to process the request, formulate a question or comment, and get your attention. If no one responds, reword it and wait again. If you’re pretty sure there are questions or comments but that people are hesitant to speak up (and you’ve invited the questions and paused for responses), start it off yourself: “A question people often ask is_________.”
It also can be very effective to ask the class to think about a question or issue for a minute or two and jot down their ideas about it before you ask for their responses. This gives people with a more reflective learning style the chance to formulate their ideas, and having the chance to write something down first provides a “safety net” for less confident participants. This technique makes it more likely that you’ll get a wider range of responses from a wider range of people.
Be sure to call on participants in different areas of the room and from all different groups (gender, age, ethnicity, etc.). If you keep getting the same few people raising their hands, physically move to a new part of the room or at least turn toward a different section of the class, and verbally invite more responses: “I haven’t heard from anyone on this side of the room for a while….”
Don’t feel you have to be funny but do remember that appropriate humor can create positive connections. Much of the best humor arises from the group—be ready to laugh, but also be on guard that it actually is appropriate humor. You are the frontline for making sure the learning environment is a positive, safe place for everyone. This obviously connects to the earlier discussion of groundrules, and the bottom line of all groundrules is respect.
If there is a comment that is clearly over the line (“humorous” or not), of course it’s your responsibility to say so—respectfully but firmly. The more difficult situation is when someone makes a comment that is close to the line … do you say something or not? Deciding what level of response you should have to these “teachable moments” is a true test of your facilitating skills. What I have found personally is that it’s when I didn’t respond at all (because I was taken by surprise, I wasn’t sure if it was over the line, etc.) that I regretted my actions—and the lack thereof.
When dealing with these kinds of issues, keep in mind that people who are behaving inappropriately often don’t realize or intend it—they want to be involved but don’t realize that they’re dominating the conversation, they want to lighten the mood with humor but they don’t realize some people are offended, etc. Give them the benefit of the doubt while respectfully redirecting them. If they push back, stand firm and reinforce the value of seeing from others’ perspectives.
Respect the many voices in the room and create situations where everyone can learn from each other—that’s what facilitating is all about. It’s an area where we all can be lifelong learners.
Do you have additional tips for facilitating large group discussions and activities? We invite you to share them! Share your comments below this article.
Kelly Tait is communication consultant with nine years of experience in judicial branch education and fifteen years of experience teaching college-level communication classes. Her areas of expertise include facilitation skills, planning and delivering effective presentations, courtroom communication skills, communicating with non-legally trained court participants, diversity issues and perceptions of procedural fairness, etc.
Robert Boone serves in Workforce Development at TENCO Workforce Investment Board, Maysville, KY. Currently, Mr. Boone is working to develop and provide a variety of supportive services to nursing students enrolled in a Department of Labor funded training program that focuses on the career placement of dislocated, unemployed, and incumbent workers into medically underserved areas of Kentucky. Prior to this experience, Mr. Boone served as a department head for a long-term care and rehabilitation facility in Athens, GA. Mr. Boone’s interests include Economic and Workforce Development, Small Business Development, and Historic Preservation. Mr. Boone received his education from Morehead State University and The University of Georgia.
With funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center for Court Innovation and The National Judicial College have launched the development and evaluation of a national demonstration project that will attempt to improve procedural justice in an urban criminal court setting. 
The project was born out of research showing that litigants’ perceptions of procedural justice (the perceived fairness of the procedures they experience in the courthouse) exert more influence on their overall view of the justice system than distributive justice (the perceived fairness of the case outcome). The goal of the project is to translate the key principles of procedural justice into a training curriculum that will be administered in an urban criminal courtroom – aimed at improving staff’s verbal and non-verbal communication practices – then evaluate the impact of those changed practices on defendant perceptions of fairness.
Kelly Tait is communication consultant with nine years of experience in judicial branch education and fifteen years of experience teaching college-level communication classes. Her areas of expertise include facilitation skills, planning and delivering effective presentations, courtroom communication skills, communicating with non-legally trained court participants, diversity issues and perceptions of procedural fairness, etc.