I write today with exciting information on law teaching methodology. Jane Mitchell from BYU Law has authored an absorbing piece on the effective teaching of leadership to law students using transformative learning theory. Her article, “That Class Changed My Life”: Using Transformative Learning Theory to Teach Leadership, 65 Santa Clara L. Rev. 593 (2025), can be found on SSRN here. The abstract follows.

Since the country’s founding, the legal profession has served as a springboard for some of society’s greatest leaders. But by and large, lawyers were not trained to lead—until recently. Over the last fifteen years, law schools have become increasingly intentional about leadership development. Leadership programs in law schools have proliferated, as has a growing body of scholarship on lawyer leadership.

Surprisingly, the literature on lawyer-leader development has neglected adult learning theories. This Article addresses that gap and grounds the teaching of leadership in a well-established theoretical tradition. It presents the results of a design-based research study that applies Mezirow’s transformative learning theory to the design and delivery of a leadership seminar taught at Brigham Young University Law School. The study finds that 95% of students enrolled in the second iteration of the course took new, concrete leadership actions as a direct result of their participation in the class. The study identifies core design principles for facilitating transformative learning in law school courses on leadership—with an eye towards helping students become better leaders, not merely learn about leadership.

The article is truly inspiring. Its description of the teaching methods underlying the leadership course that is the subject of the study is detailed and helpful. The purpose of the course in supporting professional leadership identity formation and development is laudatory.

So much of the article resonated with me and is consistent with what I have observed in teaching leadership to law students and undergraduates. Here is a passage I found especially resonant and insightful (quoted with footnotes omitted):

The journey of becoming a leader is one of change. To lead effectively, students must acquire several leadership perspectives that often require shedding prior ways of viewing the world. They must realize their own potential and capacity to lead. They must see themselves as agents capable of acting and not merely being acted upon. They must identify and work through habits of mind, unhealthy thought patterns, and blind spots that limit more effective service. They must develop an awareness of their strengths, natural tendencies, biases, and weaknesses. They must realize their need for others and adopt a healthy dose of humility. They must come to view others as human beings, not objects and see the potential in others. They must learn to perceive others as equals and as people they can learn from. They must come to value diverse viewpoints and seek out perspectives dissimilar to their own. And this list merely scratches the surface.

Getting students to change in these ways is no small task. Jane’s study offers hope and a path forward in effecting these important transformations–ones that are sure to support and enrich the students’ subsequent academic and professional experiences. I appreciate her efforts in documenting course design and execution as well as student outcomes.