By: Michael C. Bryce
As law schools near the end of their first decade in the 21st
Century, questions of the efficacy of legal education are coming to
the fore. The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) has just
released a lengthy report on changes that need to be made to
improve legal education, and the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching has also released a report finding that
legal education is not sufficiently meeting the needs of law
graduates in preparing them for the practice of law. The concept of
learning to “think like a lawyer,” through case studies from books,
is no longer considered sufficient preparation for law graduates,
if it ever was.
One litigator/educator, however, sees an area where law schools
are utilizing good legal andragogy and ensuring students learn
theory and doctrine into practice. It is being accomplished through
mediation learning and clinics, with the use of simulations and
experiential learning
The efficacy of the mediation learning is evidenced by the
variety of methods used to teach the mediation course and clinic,
including: lecture, numerous readings, class interaction,
demonstration and modeling, case studies, media presentations and
role plays, and actual clinic mediations, along with constant
feedback. Students are motivated in working together, with boredom
regarded as the biggest enemy to their learning.
The successful learning techniques utilized in mediation
learning and clinics can be found in educational methods that have
been with us for over 400 years, i.e., Jesuit Education. The
Jesuits devoted their lives to learning, and they realized that
simply lecturing to students would bore them, thus leading students
to not listen and not learn. (“What is taught must be caught.”)
Early on the Jesuits developed a number of concepts that resulted
in successful communication, motivation, and learning. These
concepts included:
- Care for the Individual Student (cura
personalis);
- Dividing larger classes into breakout groups;
- Utilizing active learning with a variety of stimulating
exercises;
- Structuring the learning process so the students learn in
sequence;
- Use of repetition and review, allowing learning to be
reinforced;
- Incorporating visuals and drama to allow for visual learning as
well
as further experiential learning; - Conducting “prelection,” whereby students are apprised of what
they
will be learning next and provided a roadmap for learning it; - Providing feedback and guidance to the students.
These concepts are now successfully being utilized in mediation
learning and clinics, providing one answer to the concerns raised
about legal education. It is hoped this method will be further
utilized by law schools, including increased interaction among
faculty and students, with added mentoring for future lawyers
(cura personalis).