The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in Australia

‘One powerful notion that permeates the Law School at the University of New South Wales is that first year law has a significant ‘gatekeeper’ role. The School recognises the importance of identifying students who are struggling in order to offer appropriate social and academic support. Clearly, the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Afshin A-Khavari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Bond University 2006-01-01
Series:Legal Education Review
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6189
_version_ 1797256687846948864
author Afshin A-Khavari
author_facet Afshin A-Khavari
author_sort Afshin A-Khavari
collection DOAJ
description ‘One powerful notion that permeates the Law School at the University of New South Wales is that first year law has a significant ‘gatekeeper’ role. The School recognises the importance of identifying students who are struggling in order to offer appropriate social and academic support. Clearly, the vast majority of students are eminently capable of the conceptual work underlying a law degree. Students struggle for reasons other than intellectual capacity, so since 1997 the Law School has supported the Law Peer Tutors program as a way to address these other issues that can hinder students and lead some of them to drop out in first year. Evidence suggests that this dropping out results from a feeling of not belonging or a general alienation from the culture of university. It appears that students who identify as part of a community remain and progress. First year is therefore a significant time to ensure that students are encouraged to identify as ‘law students’ and see themselves as connected to the academic community in general, and particularly to the staff and students in the Law School. The program is jointly funded by the Law School and The Learning Centre and uses a model of peer-to-peer tutoring to ensure students have a successful transition to university. It focuses on offering academic support, but via its small group structure has a social dimension which helps to tackle some of the reasons identified in surveys of students' decisions not to complete first year. Approximately 150 First Year students and 15 Law Peer Tutors are involved in the program each year.’
first_indexed 2024-04-24T22:25:43Z
format Article
id doaj.art-25065a12ce164ca9bcdf16e673371217
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1033-2839
1839-3713
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-24T22:25:43Z
publishDate 2006-01-01
publisher Bond University
record_format Article
series Legal Education Review
spelling doaj.art-25065a12ce164ca9bcdf16e6733712172024-03-20T00:18:52ZengBond UniversityLegal Education Review1033-28391839-37132006-01-01161The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in AustraliaAfshin A-Khavari‘One powerful notion that permeates the Law School at the University of New South Wales is that first year law has a significant ‘gatekeeper’ role. The School recognises the importance of identifying students who are struggling in order to offer appropriate social and academic support. Clearly, the vast majority of students are eminently capable of the conceptual work underlying a law degree. Students struggle for reasons other than intellectual capacity, so since 1997 the Law School has supported the Law Peer Tutors program as a way to address these other issues that can hinder students and lead some of them to drop out in first year. Evidence suggests that this dropping out results from a feeling of not belonging or a general alienation from the culture of university. It appears that students who identify as part of a community remain and progress. First year is therefore a significant time to ensure that students are encouraged to identify as ‘law students’ and see themselves as connected to the academic community in general, and particularly to the staff and students in the Law School. The program is jointly funded by the Law School and The Learning Centre and uses a model of peer-to-peer tutoring to ensure students have a successful transition to university. It focuses on offering academic support, but via its small group structure has a social dimension which helps to tackle some of the reasons identified in surveys of students' decisions not to complete first year. Approximately 150 First Year students and 15 Law Peer Tutors are involved in the program each year.’https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6189
spellingShingle Afshin A-Khavari
The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in Australia
Legal Education Review
title The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in Australia
title_full The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in Australia
title_fullStr The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in Australia
title_full_unstemmed The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in Australia
title_short The Opportunities and Possibilities for Internationalising the Curriculum of Law Schools in Australia
title_sort opportunities and possibilities for internationalising the curriculum of law schools in australia
url https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6189
work_keys_str_mv AT afshinakhavari theopportunitiesandpossibilitiesforinternationalisingthecurriculumoflawschoolsinaustralia
AT afshinakhavari opportunitiesandpossibilitiesforinternationalisingthecurriculumoflawschoolsinaustralia