A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

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Key aspects of
teaching and
learning
Enhancing learning in legal
education
Tracey Varnava and Julian Webb
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is intended to encourage the use of pedagogical approaches that will
underpin and develop student learning in law. The subject matter itself is a rich
source of material and ideas, as an intrinsic and influential thread running through the
fabric of everyday life. Law both shapes and reflects societal rules, norms and values.
The boundaries of the discipline are, perhaps increasingly, indistinct, drawing, for
example, on philosophy, politics, sociology and economics. This porosity affords plenty
of scope to move beyond a narrow construction of the curriculum to a wider consideration
of the place and status of law in society. One of the first challenges for the teacher is
therefore to articulate through the syllabus a conception of law which takes students
beyond their own assumptions about the parameters of the subject. A broader vision
not only opens up new vistas for exploration but also offers exciting possibilities for
enhancing learning. This chapter aims to outline some ideas and suggestions as to how
this might be achieved.
The first section of the chapter gives a flavour of some of the issues that shape
and define the study of law at university. These influences have the potential to both
limit and liberate the way in which law is taught. In the next section, two innovative
approaches to teaching law, namely problem-based learning and research-based learning,
are described. These have been selected as examples that are particularly well
suited to fostering the attributes that have been identified as characteristic of a law
graduate (QAA, 2000). Approaches to assessment in law are also addressed. The chapter
ends with an overview of the matters discussed and some suggestions for further
reading.
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