Introduction

Welcome to “Learning in Place: An Externship Coursebook”.

This resource was written for students working in externship or internship settings, with a focus on social justice or access to justice-focused placements. An externship is simply a placement completed under supervision for credit in an organization such as a law firm, clinic, NGO, or other workplace context. Although the text will be of most immediate use to externship and internship students, it will also be relevant for students working in legal clinics or other law-related placement settings.

This particular resource was written for students working in a Canadian context, but also contains materials relevant for other jurisdictions. Most references in this text focus on one Canadian province, Ontario, but similar materials and resources are typically available in other provinces and territories.

This text has benefited from contributions from Windsor Law students who added content over time. Conceptually, this text is a combination of formal research, online and more informal resources, art, memes, and narratives by students who have encountered the legal workforce in an externship setting.

All errors remain the primary author’s.

Because this text is open source, it is updated frequently. The text can be exported and printed at any time. Students who choose to print the text should check back with the text regularly to ensure they are using the most recent version.