4. Reflective Practice, Implicit Bias & Cultural Competence

This Chapter connects three concepts that are intimately linked: reflective practice, implicit bias, and cultural competence.

The first section focuses on why reflective practice is so important in professional learning. This section also begins to carve out a definition of reflective practice. This includes ideas about critical reflective practice in a social justice context.

The Chapter then turns to the idea of implicit bias – a concept many students have now been exposed to, but perhaps not in the context of law practice.

Finally, the Chapter introduces the concept of “cultural competence” and associated ideas of cultural humility, cultural awareness, and others.

Critically, this chapter focuses on the importance of understanding one’s own biases and their potential impacts on clients and communities. Aspects of racism, ableism, sexism, and other discrimination in the legal workplace are canvassed in a later Chapter.