Abstract
This article seeks to examine the roles played by authority within the classroom in the legal education context and its potential impact on the models of pedagogical practice. Among the pertinent factors fuelling the changing demographics of the law student body is the perceived attraction of practising law in the United Kingdom which increases the popularity of graduate conversion routes into the profession both by qualified legal practitioners from other jurisdictions and by mature students with experience in other areas. This raises a number of potential difficulties for junior law teachers in so far as this changing student body demographic is capable of challenging the teacher's real or perceived authority in the classroom which was hitherto considered a crucial tool to the educator. This article discusses the effects of the closing gap of knowledge and experience between the teacher and the student body and how the adoption of different models of pedagogy may alleviate certain difficulties that arise, perhaps to the extent of transforming this weakness into strength. In the end, however, whether to use different pedagogical models to compensate for a lack of relative authority in the classroom may hinge upon whether legal training should primarily be academically oriented or more akin to training for the practice of a trade, raising questions regarding the appropriate form and function of legal education.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | The Law Teacher |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 146-164 |
| ISSN | 0306-9400 |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2012 |