Legal education is being transformed before our eyes. In part, this transformation has been sogradual that it has gone unappreciated. I routinely read critiques of legal education that seem to be based onthe assumption that we all still teach like Professor Kingsfield. I know of very few people who still use thatsort of strict Socratic method. Mostdoctrinal law teachers that I know teach through a mix of soft Socratic method,lecture, problems and discussion. But agreat deal of the curriculum at most law schools is now dedicated to skillstraining, externships, co-curricular activities (moot court competitions, trialadvocacy, journals, etc.) and of course clinics.
In the face of blistering criticism of legal education, lawschools have been striving to demonstrate a commitment to reform, often bybolstering, highlighting or simply re-packaging existing programs. But to the extent that real change isoccurring, it is often based on our intuitions about what ought to work for ourstudents rather than on actual evidence of what works. As Holmes tells Watson, “It is a capitalmistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead oftheories to suit facts.” But thepartnership that produced Teaching to Every Student: ExplicitlyIntegrating Skills and Theory into the Contracts Class bridges the gap between theory andfacts. Deborah Zalesne is a contracts scholarat CUNY law and David Nadvorney is the director of academic support programs atCUNY. They have worked together foryears to make certain that their pedagogical strategies actually work for theirstudents
Introducing new approaches to the legal curriculum involvesteaching old dogs new tricks, because law schools have to work with thefaculties they’ve got. I consider myselfa moderately old dog. I cannot easilyabandon my doctrinal/theoretical approach to focus in my doctrinal courses onskills training and bar preparation. Ineed guidance to help me work on my approach. Nadvorney and Zalesne providesuch guidance for contracts profs in Teachingto Every Student. The book is slim and affordable (under $30 on Amazon),and I think its approach is unique – or at least highly unusual – in that theauthors insist on incorporating theoretical perspectives while also highlightingtheir very practical, skills-based approach to teaching first-year contracts.
Their approach to teaching contracts focuses on three areasof training: academic training, which includes everything from case briefing toexam preparation; legal reasoning, which includes the traditional skills setthat enables students to learn how to issue spot and apply rules to uniquefactual situations; and theoretical perspectives, which encompasses learningtheory, identifying and critiquing theoretical approaches, and integrating suchapproaches into advocacy.
The book can be a wonderful supplement to any casebook (orwhatever other materials one chooses to use). It comes complete with in-depth sections on each of the three areas oftraining mentioned above, exercises, sample syllabi and some edited cases.
Even if one chooses not to adopt the book, I recommend it tolaw professors interested in looking for new stimuli that will enable them toshake up their approaches to teaching
[JT]
