The Future UTAS Law School?

This is an interesting speech by the Chief Justice of Victoria http://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/scv/resources/f9fe4d8e-660b-4bae-982b-ffc9220075e8/fiat_justitia2014speech_of_the_hon_marilynwarrenac.pdf

"The Access to Justice Imperative: Rights, Rationalisation or Resolution?"

The CJ explores how the legal field and market has changed and the diverse, and often contradictory, demands that are placed on legal education.

So the question is how should a small law school in Tasmania respond to these changes? How does it if the " the focus of a university course is on content delivery only and to a maximised audience" within the context of an university environment also responding to massive changes and a transformation into a more aggressive corporate and bureaucratic culture?

The CJ largely focuses on supplying a narrow legal market place (traditionally known as legal practice) should (as UTAS is) focus on a wider set of career paths and capacities?

In 1893 UTAS started providing a small % (<10%) of  people into a local professional market place. It now provides 95%+ of that local 'predominately' business market place as well as people able (and wanting) to work at the UN, in Singapore, for governments (a significant proportion of the current Tas Parliament) and others who still want their options left open at the end of a 5 year degree?

Where should UTAS Law be aiming towards or does it really have a choice?

I will be holding a staff conversation about this in a couple of weeks but would love insights and feedback from people (not just law students and alumni but others in the community as well - because the type(s) of law graduates we produce impact upon you as well.

Conversations about learning – the art of my teaching practice

Conversations about learning – the art of my teaching practice

Exploring insights, puzzles, conundrums and struggles from 25 years of tertiary teaching

Associate Professor Rick Snell

Law School, University of Tasmania

The following are notes  I used at a small gathering of staff (2) at the Law School 9th September 2013 (very short notice). The idea is to start talking more openly about my teaching, experiences and current trends and issues in higher education especially with a focus, but not exclusively, on law teaching.

25 Years of a teaching practice

Degrees taught in - Political Science, Law, Masters of Public Administration, Masters of Journalism, Certificate Parliamentary Law and Practice

Subjects – Political Science 1, South Pacific Politics, Australian Politics, Principles of Public Law (Constitutional and Administrative) Administrative Law, Comparative Administrative Law, Property, Media Law, Ethics and Administrative Law, Comparative Freedom of Information Law, Legal Writing

Courses at - UTAS, University of Western Ontario, University College Cork (4 months as Legal Writer), University of Wollongong

Classes at – UNSW, Melbourne Law School, Ottawa Law School, Sheffield Law School, Victoria University of Wellington, AMC

Postgraduates – Law (5), Pol Sci (1) Public Policy (1), Journalism (2)

Teaching Achievements

2010-2012       UniJobs UTAS Top 10 Lecturer

2009    Australasian Law Teachers Association and Lexis-Nexis Law Teacher of the Year for Excellence and Innovation

2009    UTAS Teaching Excellence Award

2008    Australian Learning and Teaching Council National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning “An outstanding capacity to inspire and encourage student learning across the undergraduate law degree from first year to final year students.”

2008    Vice Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning

2007    UTAS Teaching Merit Certificate

1998    TULS (Law Students Society) Lecturer of the Year

1997    Nominated Australian Teacher of the Year

1997    Chosen as 1 of 48 academics for a published CAUT study on exemplary university teaching in Australia in Roy Ballantyne et al Reflecting on University Teaching Academics’ Stories published by the Australian Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs in 1997

1996    UTAS Teaching Excellence Award

1995    UTAS Teaching Merit Certificate

Promoted to Associate Professor in 2011 based on a 60% weighting for teaching.

Talking points

Engagement
Constructive Alignment
Learning/teaching environment
Student centered partnership
Deep and active learning
Reflective Journals
Action Learning
Role – Coach/Developer
The countervailing elementss
Greatest threat

Taken from 2010 promotion application -  Case for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching

“My track record in teaching excellence extends over 20 years.  My teaching has evolved. I have progressed from a predominant orientation upon the practice of teaching to a comprehensive and multi-faceted excellence in practice, scholarship and leadership at both a tactical and strategic level with an emerging national and international dimension.  My teaching practice is informed and driven by my research and community engagement focus on law reform.

A process of action research has been used to develop my teaching practice and philosophy. This process is based on a constant cycle of reflection, research, informed practice and critical assessment of a multitude of feedback sources (SETLS, reflective journals, discussions with alumni and peer input) and professional development (teaching workshops, courses and self-study). Furthermore I have constructed a nexus between my teaching, research and community engagement where my classroom lessons reflect my research activity and that combination is then fed into my law reform activities.  My approach to teaching is very much informed by an applied and strategic basic approach to research which extends the concept of teaching and learning beyond undergraduate and postgraduate students into the wider community and draws insights from that wider engagement back into the classroom and my research.

“In 20 years experience as a student and academic in law, I have never encountered a law academic who so actively combined teaching with research.” Associate Professor Wendy Lacey (see Attachment 2)

My teaching philosophy and pedagogical framework has been influenced by the works of Ramsden[1], Biggs[2] especially ‘constructive alignment’ and a reassessment of the ideas of Whitehead[3] and Highett[4]. In the area of administrative law teaching I remain enthused by the ideas and approaches of Goldring[5] and Palmer,[6] in particular former NZ Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s, call for public law academics to be engaged with law reform and public debate.

Talking points

Engagement

From Day 1

Flicking the switch

The hand other

Linked to Whitehead – avoid teaching dead/inert subjects

Enthusiasm/interest of the lecturer/tutor - passion

Solving mysteries

Students being able to participate in the discussion/class

Journey

Constructive Alignment

Adding of elements (assessment, activities, teacher, students)

Student variability – background, skill sets, career paths, motivations, support

Primary focus of assessment selection has been to engage and activate independent student learning

Students – the most difficult variable – and the one that the other elements are least able to respond to

Learning/teaching environment

Trust, supportive, availability

Small groups (rotation)

Organisied

Student centered partnership

1. Roles 

 2. the position of drafts 

3. expectations

Deep and active learning

“From a student perspective the concepts of deep learning go beyond just understanding but involve analysing them, critiquing them, finding problematic areas and finding solutions to resolve them. To me being able and confident enough to disagree with the author show signs of deep learning because students have not simply accepted things as they are. They have an active opinion and understanding which has given them the ability to form new ideas!” Courtney Wood

Reflective Journals

“The opportunity to keep a journal, is such a valuable and rare opportunity.  What strikes me most is that it has been weighted as the same amount as the essays were.  Rick obviously places a high regard on these journals and in turn, it has meant that I have attempted, throughout the unit, to make valuable reflections.” 4th Year student.

Action Learning

Teacher and student

Experiment, reflection, adjustment

Role – Coach/Developer

            As opposed to assessor/gatekeeper

Primary aim - improvement

The countervailing elements

Prior or recent experience of students

Workload (teacher, student)

Trends – technology

Bureaucratization/KPIs

Other assessment

Limited time with students (7 weeks)

Greatest threats

Failure to build trust

Student disengagement

Heavy workload

Overselling the benefits and/or outcomes

The pursuit of the new and the tiring of the old

Overcrowding content, experiences

Misjudging workload

Dysfunction between my unit and others (within law and university wide).

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[1]         Paul Ramsden, Learning to Teach in Higher Education  (2003).

[2]         John Biggs, Teaching for Quality Learning at University (3^rd ed, 2007).

[3]         AN Whitehead, The Aims of Education and Other Essays. (reprint 1985).

[4]         Gilbert Highet, The Art of Teaching (1951).

[5]         John Goldring ‘Administrative Law: Teaching and Practice,’ (1986) 15 Melbourne University Law Review 489-507.

[6]         Geoffrey Palmer, "The New Public Law: Its Province and Function" (1992) 22 Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 1-22.