Legal Literacies Foundation Units
These modules are also collected in pdf format in the Talking Legal Literacies ebook.Role Models and Bad Influences. An icebreaker module
Legal Knowledge and Reflective Learning. Exploring law's relationship to other disciplines and introduces the idea of reflective learning.
Legal Language. Thinking about the difference between legal language and other forms.
A Household Dilemma. Exploring the impact of legal ideology on everyday conflicts.
Legal Logic and Puzzle Solving. Law and syllogistic reasoning.
Rules and Ruleplay. Introduces the idea of ruleplay and discusses the use of rule systems as a way of organising social activities.
Bail Hearings. Uses scripted bail applications to discuss language and professional identity.
Crime Stories. Looks at the creation of legal narratives by examining the fictionalisation of crime news.
Violence and Legal Stories. Comparing rules of duelling to the law of provocation, looks at the way in which legal narratives are constructed.
Pet Court. A simple application of the connection between rules and precedents.
Rules as Strategy: Playdoh Death Match. Using a tabletop war game, asks students to understand rules systems as dynamic social artifacts and to consider the connection between legal principles of fairness and rules.
Dangerous Dogs and Other Animals. Stripped down to its basics, a simulation of legal process and the networks of legal knowledge and authorities.
Ferret Furore. Legal pluralism and law reform, explored via a roleplay for 20 participants involving government, courts and interest groups.
Introductions to and commentaries on these learning modules, here.
Christopher Enright's Guides at Legalskills.com.au
Examination Techniques - Examinations are the high hurdles in the academic race. This is why it is necessary for students to have a good technique for examinations. This article explains the seven basic principles that make for a good examination technique.How to Answer a Problem Question - Problem questions help students to study law in several ways. (i) Students revise the relevant legal rules. (ii) Students go beyond a mere passive study of law into the active task of applying law to a set of facts. They then see how law operates which helps them better to understand and remember law. (iii) Problem questions enable student to acquire and to improve some of the basic skills for working with law in practice.
Structure as a Guide to Clear Writing - Much of the talk about writing clearly goes under the label of plain English. While the plain English advocates have done much good the plain English approach is an insufficient guide to clear writing.
If you want me to include your resources on this page, let me know. I won't include my work email here because of spambots, but you can find Scott Beattie at Victoria University Law School, staff profiles.
