Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a Lawyer
Despite a clear case for thinking skills in legal education, the approach to teaching these skills often appears to be implied in law curricula rather than identified explicitly. Thinking skills could be taught as part of reading law and legal problem solving. However, learning the full suite of thi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Bond University
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Legal Education Review |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6072 |
| _version_ | 1827312563509002240 |
|---|---|
| author | Kate Galloway Mary Heath Alex Steel Anne Hewitt |
| author_facet | Kate Galloway Mary Heath Alex Steel Anne Hewitt |
| author_sort | Kate Galloway |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite a clear case for thinking skills in legal education, the approach to teaching these skills often appears to be implied in law curricula rather than identified explicitly. Thinking skills could be taught as part of reading law and legal problem solving. However, learning the full suite of thinking skills requires active teaching strategies which go beyond exposing students to the text of the law, and training them in its application by solving problem scenarios. The challenge for law teachers is to articulate how to learn legal thinking skills, and to do so at each level of the degree. This article outlines how the nexus between three component skills: critical legal thinking, reading law, and legal problem solving, can be put to work to provide a cohesive and scaffolded approach to the teaching of legal thinking. Although the approach in this article arises from the Smart Casual project, producing discipline-specific professional development resources directed at sessional teachers in law, we suggest that its application is relevant to all law teachers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T21:45:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13e1ba20a0b24720a310a65ab78cc07c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1033-2839 1839-3713 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T21:45:25Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | Bond University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Legal Education Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-13e1ba20a0b24720a310a65ab78cc07c2024-03-20T22:15:22ZengBond UniversityLegal Education Review1033-28391839-37132016-01-01261Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a LawyerKate GallowayMary HeathAlex SteelAnne HewittDespite a clear case for thinking skills in legal education, the approach to teaching these skills often appears to be implied in law curricula rather than identified explicitly. Thinking skills could be taught as part of reading law and legal problem solving. However, learning the full suite of thinking skills requires active teaching strategies which go beyond exposing students to the text of the law, and training them in its application by solving problem scenarios. The challenge for law teachers is to articulate how to learn legal thinking skills, and to do so at each level of the degree. This article outlines how the nexus between three component skills: critical legal thinking, reading law, and legal problem solving, can be put to work to provide a cohesive and scaffolded approach to the teaching of legal thinking. Although the approach in this article arises from the Smart Casual project, producing discipline-specific professional development resources directed at sessional teachers in law, we suggest that its application is relevant to all law teachers.https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6072 |
| spellingShingle | Kate Galloway Mary Heath Alex Steel Anne Hewitt Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a Lawyer Legal Education Review |
| title | Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a Lawyer |
| title_full | Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a Lawyer |
| title_fullStr | Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a Lawyer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a Lawyer |
| title_short | Working the Nexus: Teaching Students to Think, Read and Problem-Solve Like a Lawyer |
| title_sort | working the nexus teaching students to think read and problem solve like a lawyer |
| url | https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6072 |
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