The IALS Summer Workshop: Teaching Tomorrow’s Law Teachers, 3rd-7th July 2023

Professor Shauna Van Praagh, McGill University and Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

The workshop will be facilitated by Professor Shauna Van Praagh, of the Faculty of Law of McGill University in Montreal and Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. Professor Van Praagh is an internationally recognised expert on legal education, law and literature, and legal pluralism. In her research, she adopts a methodological approach grounded in legal pluralism, a sensibility to identity-based narrative and critique, and a particular emphasis on literary sources and style. At McGill, she has designed and delivered the highly successful Seminar on Legal Education, which is aimed at future law teachers. 

Professor Van Praagh has published widely on legal education, including her recent book, Building Justice: Frank Iacobucci and the Life Cycles of Law (University of Toronto Press, 2022). She is the co-editor of Law and Learning in the Time of Pandemic - A Collage (with David Sandomierski (Lex Electronica), and she has written about her Legal Education Seminar in the Journal of Legal Education.   

Professor Carl Stychin, Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal studies

Professor Van Praagh will be supported with the workshop by the Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Professor Carl Stychin. As Director, Professor Stychin has championed the role of the Institute as a national hub for legal education and scholarship. 

The workshop adopts a critical, active learning approach. Participants learn about and practice using a range of models and tools available for introducing, testing and consolidating complex knowledge. They are placed in a supportive and supported environment and asked to engage with pedagogical philosophy on a theoretical level, to experiment with different forms of pedagogy in practice, and to reflect on their future role as educators.

The Workshop invites participants to imagine new possibilities for teaching and learning - across disciplines and through time and space. Scholars will be encouraged to reimagine the classroom as an institutional site, to focus on the elements of meaningful teacher-student relations, and to critique the idea of teaching as indoctrination and learning as passive absorption. Ultimately, the Workshop will be shaped by constructive and structured opportunities for self-awareness in both teaching and learning. Like all law classrooms, it will provide space for distinctive and personal narrative as well as for shared collective analysis. 

The Workshop will run intensively from 9:30 to 17:00 over five days, with each day divided into three sessions. Participants will have the opportunity to lead sessions, and to gain experience in a variety of pedagogic techniques. A virtual learning environment of materials will be provided. Topics for the sessions include: 

• A Community of Law Teachers
• Becoming (and Evolving as) a Law Teacher
• Sharing Space with Law Students
• Thinking/Doing/Acting ‘Like a Lawyer’
• The Library in Legal Education: Books and the Importance of Close Reading
• How (Law) Students Learn
• How (Law) Teachers Teach
• Critical Approaches to Teaching and Learning Law
• Teaching for Justice Readiness
• Current and Cutting Edge: Possibilities and Potential for Legal Education
• Governance Issues in University Education
• A Learning Cycle - The Place(s) of Feedback and Evaluation
• Stewardship of Law and Legal Education
• Community Renewal and Sustainability

All participants will be expected to keep a personal journal as a record of their engagement, and for supporting their future development. They will also receive a University of London Certificate of Attendance for the week. Participation in the workshop is intended to provide evidence of professional development and expertise in legal education, and to prepare participants to act as champions of education in their institutions and across the sector. It is also expected that the Workshop will prove to be useful in the development of the evidence base for meeting the fellowship requirements of Advance HE. Furthermore, there will be opportunities to develop outputs in terms of teaching materials, the design of innovative modules, and pedagogy focused professional scholarship. 

In addition, the Workshop is intended to foster a culture of responsibility of participants towards leadership of teaching and learning in law schools and universities. This includes peer support, mentoring, and the championing of innovation and best practice. 

The Workshop is limited to the participation of twelve early career teachers. It is an intensive programme which adopts an active learning approach. As a consequence, participants will be expected to attend all sessions and to prepare in advance. This is an ‘in person’ Workshop and remote attendance is not allowed. 

Applications are due by  28 February 2023. A statement of support from the applicant’s institution is required. In the event of oversubscription, decisions will be made based upon the application materials. The outcome will be confirmed no later than end of March 2023. 

The tuition fee for the week is £500. Accommodation is not included, although relatively inexpensive student halls of residence are available within the University of London. A limited number of fee waivers will be available on the basis of need. 

Application form for the IALS Summer Workshop