Continuing judicial education: Cognitive development as content, process, and outcome

The Leadership Institute in Judicial Education curriculum provides an opportunity for judges to learn about and work in areas that are unfamiliar to most of them. Literature on experiential learning, the life cycle, and cognitive development provide a lens through which to examine our personal and professional lives. These three theoretical streams intertwine and compliment each other, serving as a background against which to design continuing education for judges. Experiential learning provides teaching strategies that challenge learners to take in and process information in new ways. Viewing identity, intimacy, and generativity as powerful motivators, a curriculum can be developed that encourages the complexity of thinking that we think is essential if judges are going to deal with the complexities our global society presents to them. This approach serves the instrumental needs of judges, and also promotes development along a scheme such as Perry's.