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Graduate Attributes and Legal Skills: Integration or
Disintegration?
SHARON CHRISTENSEN* & SALLY
KIFT**†
INTRODUCTION
Graduate attributes may be broadly defined as the qualities, capabilities and understandings of a graduate which a university community agrees students should develop during their time at the institution, both for their future professions and to make a contribution as ordinary citizens.1 This article examines the benefits and disadvantages of an integrated and incremental approach to developing these attributes, and to teaching the generic and legally specific skills that underpin them in an undergraduate law program. The progress toward the integration of both generic and lawyering skills within the undergraduate law program at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) will be used as the exemplar for this article.
LEGAL EDUCATION TO DATE: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Traditionally, educators of undergraduate lawyers-in-training have approached
curriculum planning from the perspective of what law
graduates “need to
know”. This approach will usually lead to graduates having very good
technical skills but lacking
some of the necessary generic skills desired by
employers. The Australian Law Reform Commission in its recent report Managing
Justice – A Review of the Federal Civil Justice
System2 cited the American report Legal
Education and Professional Development – An Educational
Continuum,3 and concluded that legal education
should be orientated around “what lawyers need to be able to
do”.4 This also reflects feedback from employers
and graduates. Nevertheless, the mainstream Australian educational focus remains
anchored
in outmoded notions of “what lawyers need to know”.
Both the report released in 1987 by the Pearce Committee, which examined
legal education in Australia’s then law schools,5
and the subsequent report by Craig McInnis and Simon
Marginson6 noted that movement toward skills
development within law schools has been slow and that, crucially, there was no
blueprint or taxonomy
for the development of skills programs. Educators
generally have recognised that skills training must be embedded within the
process
and content of learning to ensure that learning objectives are met.
Educational commentators have also identified the desirability
of developing
teaching and learning approaches and assessment methods in an authentic learning
environment.7 The imperative to produce legal graduates
with readily transferable skills has been recognised at
an international level, both in the United States and in England.
The
MacCrate Report examined and reviewed the status of legal education in the
United States. It formulated the following list of
fundamental lawyering skills
and professional values and recommended that all law schools aim to instil these
within their graduates:
The MacCrate
Report led a majority of US law schools to redesign their curricula to entrench
a clinical legal education model for
their law
courses.9 An important element of each program is the
focus on ethics as an integral element of each of the substantive law units, the
emphasis
being on exposure to real life problems and issues in which ethical
dilemmas are a large component.
English universities have also been engaged
in projects to integrate the development of graduate or professional attributes
into undergraduate
curricula in many disciplines, including law. The UK Centre
for Legal Education has undertaken several projects of relevance to law.
One is
Benchmark Standards for Law,10 another is General
Transferable Skills in the Law Curriculum.11 In both
cases, the projects are prefaced on the expectation that, in any discipline,
students will go through several changes of career
in their working lives. The
emphasis in tertiary studies should therefore focus on developing
students’ ability to transfer
skills from one context to another. The
report on General Transferable Skills in the Law Curriculum concluded that
formal curricula
were not addressing various skills required by employers (for
example, oral communication, teamwork, written communication, leadership,
personal drive and commitment, and business awareness).12
Each of the universities within the United Kingdom networks has addressed
the issue of attributes and skills by:
The
Benchmark Standards for Law report14 details the areas
and levels of performance required of a law graduate, and identifies the nature
of general transferable skills developed
through and alongside specific legal
skills to enable students to present their learning achievements more
effectively and in a wider
employment market.
Australian universities are
likewise concerned with the issue of transferable graduate skills. The
Australian Technology Network15 is currently involved
in a large teaching and learning project aimed at designing a systematic and
explicit strategy to cultivate
and evaluate the development of relevant generic
attributes. The project recognises that, while universities may generally view
their
graduates as having acquired certain implicit attributes, any structured
development of those attributes is either non-existent or
left to skills-based
units divorced from the mainstream curriculum. The ATN Project suggests that
generic attributes should be seen
as inextricably linked with the learning of
disciplinary content in an explicit rather than merely implicit
manner.16
THE WHOLE OF UNIVERSITY APPROACH
In the past, universities have considered themselves to be responsible only
for the development of technical knowledge and the inculcation
of the
graduate’s ability to be able to criticise, question and search for
justifications. However, it is now apparent that
universities should also be
concerned to ensure that their graduates are equipped with the skills necessary
to be able to use that
technical knowledge effectively in order to succeed in a
global and ever-changing workplace.
To a significant extent, the ability of
individual courses to foster and develop transferable skills within their
curricula will be
affected by the commitment of the university as a whole to the
concept. Where the university is committed to the explicit development
of
transferable generic skills within its curricula, individual faculties should
find the transition to an explicit skills approach
easier: the likelihood of
funding for such changes increases and the university will, no doubt, have
formulated a list of generic
graduate attributes for faculties to adapt to their
discipline context.17 Any categorical statement of an
identified list of generic attributes will also signal the university’s
commitment to producing
a certain kind of graduate to key stakeholders
(employers, students, staff, government).
Both the Australian ATN Project
and the university networks established in the United Kingdom encourage a
systematic approach to skills
teaching within a discipline at university level.
Vital components of such an approach include:
IS SKILLS INTEGRATION NECESSARY IN LAW?
Overwhelmingly, contemporary educational thinking suggests that universities should not be content to provide students only with good technical knowledge: a university education should also inculcate the skills necessary to utilise that knowledge in an ever-changing global workplace. As the Australian Law Reform Commission recommended,
... properly conceived and executed, professional skills training should not
be a narrow technical or vocational exercise ... rather
it should be fully
informed by theory, devoted to the refinement of the high order intellectual
skills of students, and calculated
to inculcate a sense of ethical propriety,
and professional and social responsibility.18
The
acceptance of this philosophy is becoming more widespread in the general
university community, as evidenced, for example, by the
ATN Project and the
international initiatives outlined earlier. But the move to a broader vision for
university education comes not
only from within university hierarchies, it is
also being vigorously promoted by employer groups and students.
Traditionally, lawyers and law teachers have been resistant to change,
claiming either that skills “training” is already
included within
law courses or that specifically legal skills (legal reasoning and problem
solving, legal research) are more important
than generic skills (such as
communication), which may be acquired in other contexts. The latter view is
clearly neither held by
the wider university community nor by employer groups.
In 1998 Vignaendra19 identified the most frequently used skills by law graduates
in any type of law-related employment as communication (both oral and
written), time management, document management, and computer skills.
Legally
specific skills, while important to private professional practice, were not the
most frequently used. The recent report Employer Satisfaction with Graduate
Skills commissioned by the Department of Education, Training and Youth
Affairs highlights skill deficiencies amongst graduates in the areas
of
creativity and flair, communication skills, and problem
solving.20
While not the particular concern of this
article, it is of interest to note that Practical Legal Training (PLT) in
Australia is also
undergoing a significant review at a national level. The
Australian Professional Legal Education Council (APLEC) and the Priestley
Committee are currently reconsidering competency standards for pre-admission
training. Skills considered necessary in this context
include personal skills,
client-relations, letter writing, drafting, interviewing and communication
skills, negotiation and dispute
resolution, problem solving, legal analysis,
research, statutory interpretation, and advocacy. The nature of the PLT
competency standards
is being influenced by a belief that the PLT curriculum
should be designed to produce practitioners who are prepared to be lifelong
learners, rather than merely competent in particular legal tasks at the time of
admission to practice.21
All of this highlights the
critical issue of the responsibility law courses should assume for teaching
transferable generic skills.
As mentioned, many legal academics would say that
they already incorporate “skills” (whatever is meant by that term)
within their curriculum. While it is true that specific skills training is
incorporated to a generous extent within some law school
curricula in
specific skills units (such as legal research, advocacy, negotiation),
very few substantive or core law units aim expressly to teach generic
skills
such as communication, time management or computer skills. Nevertheless, if
asked, the majority of legal academics would say
that a skill such as effective
oral communication, for example, is obviously necessary to successfully complete
a law degree. The
simultaneous (though inconsistent) expectation is, however,
that the student will acquire the skill more by osmosis than by
instruction.
The solution to the mismatch between graduate preparation and
workplace demands lies in the acceptance that procedural knowledge is
just as
important as conceptual knowledge and that a curriculum which successfully
integrates and fosters the development of a combination
of personal qualities
and meta-cognitive functions (particularly self-reflection) will produce a
highly desirable graduate.22
The challenge to
provide a coherent framework for the teaching of both conceptual knowledge
and transferable generic and legal skills has been taken up by the
Faculty of Law at QUT as part of a Large Teaching and Learning Grant
project.
The aim of the project is to develop an authentic learning environment for
students through the adoption of appropriate
learning objectives, teaching and
learning approaches, and assessment methods, which take into account the global
workplace, social
and ethical values, and the development of lifelong learning
skills. Through such a learning environment, students will be given the
opportunity to develop both the generic and specific legal professional and
ethical skills and attributes they will need to practise
as reflective
practitioners in changing and challenging work environments. This will include
equipping students with the appropriate
level of skills to allow a seamless
transition from the academic to the professional environment.
OUTLINE OF THE QUT LAW FACULTY PROJECT
The project’s focus is on establishing a teaching, learning and
assessment framework for an integrated and incremental approach
to the
development of generic and discipline specific attributes in law. The term
“attributes” has been chosen to reflect
QUT’s involvement in
the ATN Project. If one analyses an attribute, one can identify the generic
and/or specific legal skills
which make up its components. This is explained and
exemplified further below.
In building the framework, the Law Faculty
project will move through four stages:
(i) Integrating the identified skills within the processes and content of existing LLB units.23
(ii) Developing appropriate tools and mechanisms for assessing competency levels within each of the skills.
(iii) Establishing an appropriate reporting procedure to enable students to track their development. This will involve the documentation of skills attainment (at the various levels of competency) through a reflective process that will lead to the development of a “student attribute profile”.24
(iv) Creating and implementing a staff development model to enhance instructors’ abilities to facilitate, assess, and guide attribute development in students.
(v) Compiling resource material for teaching generic attributes for the benefit of staff.
(vi) Utilising the on-line facility for course development which is in the process of being progressively introduced into the Faculty.
STAGES 1 & 2 – WHAT ARE THE NECESSARY ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS FOR A LAW GRADUATE?
The table of desirable attributes for law graduates developed by the project team takes into account data from the Vignaendra Report,25 the list of skills and values in the MacCrate Report,26 the generic attributes identified by the University, and the skills previously identified by the QUT Law Faculty for incorporation within the course.27 In the first instance,28 the project team decided to utilise and re-interpret the generic attributes set out by the University in its Manual of Policies and Procedures.29 From this list, the project team identified six desirable attributes of a law graduate. Each is designed to encapsulate broad descriptors of graduate quality and is expressed in terms of the abilities a graduate will be expected to possess upon graduation:
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Discipline Knowledge
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Graduates will possess detailed and comprehensive knowledge of Australian
legal principles and statutory regimes, knowledge of legal
systems and
influences outside Australia, an understanding of the latter’s
relationship with the Australian legal system and
a fundamental knowledge of
extra-legal factors impinging upon substantive law.
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Ethical Attitude
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Graduates will possess a sense of community and professional responsibility
and will be able to identify and offer appropriate solutions
to ethical
dilemmas.
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Communication
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Graduates will be able to clearly, appropriately and accurately
communicate, both orally and in writing, having regard to the appropriate
language for a variety of contexts.
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Problem Solving and Reasoning
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Graduates will possess critical thinking and problem solving skills, to
enable effective analysis, evaluation and creative resolution
of legal
problems.
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Information Literacy
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Graduates will be able to use current technologies and effective strategies
for the retrieval, evaluation and creative use of relevant
information as a
lifelong learner.
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Interpersonal Focus
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Graduates will be able to work both independently and as a productive
member of a team, practise critical reflection and creative
thinking, be
socially responsible and inclusive, and be able to work effectively and
sensitively within the global community in continually
changing
environments.
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A graduate who possesses the nominated attributes would generally be able to demonstrate a variety of skills. Therefore, from this list of attributes, a list of generic and legally specific skills for incorporation within the course was identified, categorised broadly as:
The specific skills within each category as identified by the project team are:
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Attitudinal Skills
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Cognitive Skills
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Communication Skills
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Relational Skills
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There are two core elements upon which the structured development of skills
is prefaced. The first is the acquisition, understanding,
application and
critique of substantive legal knowledge. It is within the context of legal
principles, doctrines and theories that
students will be provided with the
environment for the development of contemporary generic and legal skills. The
second element is
that of legal ethics. The development of an ethical attitude,
the identification of ethical issues, and the offering of resolutions
to ethical
dilemmas are to be incorporated at each stage of the degree. By the
project’s conclusion, the ultimate objective
of the QUT LLB will be to
have developed the identified legal and generic skills that together will
constitute the identified graduate
attributes within the context of discipline
knowledge and ethics.
For example, the attribute of “ethical
attitude” encompasses (at least) the following skills of “ethical
orientation”
and “discipline and ethical knowledge” which have
both generic and legal applications:
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Ethical Attitude
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Each of the identified skills has been de-constructed to produce a draft Table of Core Skills. This table identifies the following in order of detail:
While the draft Table of Core Skills sets out each of the
skills separately, none of the identified skills should be viewed in isolation:
many skills draw upon others
to demonstrate effective acquisition of a
particular skill, while some skills are so fundamental that they permeate the
application
of nearly every other skill.
Having developed the initial
taxonomy, each specific skill is also broken down into three broad levels of
progression or development.
For each level, certain compulsory units in the
undergraduate law degree will be indicated as units in which the skill is
developed.
Each of the levels of progression relate broadly to the notion that a
student should move through various stages in the attainment
of a skill (as
adapted from the ATN Project):
In the specific terms of the undergraduate degree, this may be represented as follows:
At each level of progression, students will be assessed on their level of attainment. These levels then provide the framework for the reporting procedure utilised for the development of the student attribute profile. The progression from each level to the next also works as an aid to student understanding and provides opportunity for student reflection on skill attainment.
STAGE 3 – INTEGRATION OF SKILLS INTO THE CURRICULUM
The third stage of the process, which is currently underway, requires a
significant cultural shift in approaches to teaching and learning
law within the
Faculty. While a radical overhaul of units comprising the course may not be
necessary (other than the first year program
which was completely revised for
Year 2000 implementation), the significantly content-based approach used in many
units is no longer
feasible. This is not to say that large amounts of content
need to be abandoned. Rather, a different focus needs to be developed
to ensure
that an authentic learning environment is created for the teaching and learning
of skills in parallel with the substantive law.
This presented some
particular difficulties for the development of an integrated first year,
especially given the considerable diversity
of backgrounds and varying life
skills of students entering the course. The following issues arose and will be
considered further
below:
Integration with Substantive Units – Course Level
The majority of projects and research in the area of
graduate attributes recognises that the most effective way of developing skills
within a graduate is to embed those skills within the curriculum. Encouraging
skills development throughout the course allows graduates
to develop their
attributes over time, maximising the opportunity for an advanced level of skills
attainment. The “one shot”
or inoculation model of teaching, which
is commonly characterised by having one skills unit at the beginning of the
course and a
“booster” unit/shot at the end, does not allow for the
incremental development of skills over a period of time.30
For the law degree as an entity to provide the learning environment
necessary for students to develop skills in parallel with the
substantive law,
it becomes necessary to match identified skills with units that are appropriate
for their development.
As part of this process the following two matters
require particular consideration:
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First year example
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Students are advised in their first year course materials that the
Faculty’s philosophy is to provide an education which makes
available to
the graduate-in-training the broadest possible range of generic and legally
specific skills, developed within the context
of discipline knowledge and
understanding, and a professional and ethical attitude. One of the specific
objectives of the first year
program is to encourage students to access and
analyse information through practising generic skills which will be reinforced
throughout
the rest of the course.
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In particular, there is an express acknowledgement that students
will commence the course with varying skill levels, in the
same way that they
will have varying levels of legal knowledge. The first year curriculum as a
whole is designed to assist students
to reach a common level of competency in
relation to certain skills.
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Students are informed that, in accordance with the policy of the
University, the Faculty has identified several skills that
fall within three
generic graduate attributes. The link between the generic attributes and the
skills to the real world and professional
practice is made explicit to enhance
motivation.
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Through tuition and practice of nominated skills during first year,
students are expected to achieve a basic level of development in the
generic attributes of:
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- computer skills |
- information technology literacy – e-mail, use of the World Wide Web, use of library cd-roms, word processing |
- knowledge of database structures |
- library and research skills |
- problem solving |
- critical analysis skills |
- oral communication |
- written communication |
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_ ability to work independently |
_ ability to be a productive member of a team |
_ ability to recognise and appreciate cultural and gender differences |
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_ an ethical attitude involves knowledge of ethics, knowledge of the basic ethical rules, an ability to offer appropriate solutions to ethical dilemmas, and generally conducting oneself in an ethical manner. |
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The skills to be explicitly developed as part of the first year
program have been “distributed” between the various
(core) first
year units, in each case ensuring students have instruction on the skill itself,
opportunity to practise the skill,
feedback and assessment:
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_ oral communication – speaking clearly and logically, conveying ideas in group, and active listening |
_ comprehension and analysis #1 |
_ problem solving #1 |
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_ critical thinking #1 |
_ oral communication – oral presentation |
_ ethical and attitudinal awareness #1 |
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_ information literacy – Australian, comparative and international legal research |
_ problem solving #2 |
_ written communication – writing skills and plain English |
_ computer skills |
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_ comprehension and analysis #2 |
_ problem solving #2 |
_ written communication – letter writing |
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_ critical thinking #2 |
_ information literacy – international electronic research |
_ team work |
_ ethical and attitudinal awareness #2 |
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_ comprehension and analysis #2 |
_ problem solving #2 |
_ oral communication – interviewing |
_ written communication – formal writing. |
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There is also a range of skills that are developed implicitly within
the unit Legal Institutions and Method as a foundation for other
units.31 The focus here is on skills which are
necessary for successful completion of a law degree and which students should
begin to use
and practise as early as possible, but which time and resources
dictate cannot be extensively or explicitly taught within the first
semester of
the course:
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The purpose of this discussion forum [in this unit] is to provide external
students with the opportunity to communicate with each
other and to practise
using a discussion forum. Participation in discussion forums will be optional
for external students in Torts and compulsory for external students in
Laws and Global Perspectives [in Semester 2]. The academic staff in
Legal Institutions and Method will not participate in the forum but it
will be monitored to ensure the guidelines concerning etiquette are
followed.
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Students’ information literacy and computer skills are then further
developed and assessed in the unit Legal Research and Writing and
in Laws and Global Perspectives in 2nd semester of first year.
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Teaching and Learning Approaches – the Unit Level
The teaching and learning approach of any unit deciding to integrate skills within the course should take account of a range of important issues at unit level.
The Existing Competency Level of Students Entering the Unit
Where the unit is taught in first year, competency levels may vary depending on the demographic of the student cohort. In later years of the course, teachers should be able to gain guidance from the objectives of units in the earlier part of the course regarding skill development.
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First year example – QUT |
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The diverse range of skill levels of students entering a law course over
the last few years makes the development of a first year
program particularly
challenging. A fine line must be tread to ensure that the first year program
embraces the different skill levels
of the commencing student body but
nevertheless brings all students to some level of parity by the completion of
the first year.
In 1999 the commencing student load for law was distributed as
follows:
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Age –
1999
17-24 24-30 31-36 37-42 43-50 50+ 54% 20% 15% 6% 5% 0.5% |
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Admission basis – 1999
Prev HE TAFE Senior Alt
Ent Q-Step Ood Other
59% 7% 19% 8% 2% 2% 3% |
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Key:
Prev HE Previous Higher Education
Senior Grade 12 qualifications
Alt Ent Alternative Entry
Q-step Entry program for students from low
socio-economic backgrounds Ood Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
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This did not change dramatically in 2000 with the following student
distributions:
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Age –
2000
17-24 24-30 31-36 37-42 43-50 50+ 67% 17% 6% 5% 4% 1% |
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Admission basis – 2000
Prev HE TAFE Senior Alt
Ent Q-Step Ood Other
56% 6% 29% 4% 2% 1% 2% |
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Sex – 2000
Male Female No Answer
32% 59% 9% |
The development of an integrated skills program must therefore take into account the varying life skills of students entering the course. Students who have already studied at university or completed another degree will possess, on the whole, a more varied and developed set of generic attributes than students entering straight from secondary school. On the other hand, the latter students, on the whole, may possess more advanced computer and information technology skills. With knowledge of these diversities, the entire first year program has been redesigned to ensure that all students will have attained at least basic competency levels for the targeted skills. This is desirable for a number of obvious reasons (many of which have already been described) and is critical for providing the solid platform on which second year skills teaching and learning can be built.
Additional issues arise in the context of diversity. In one of the first year
units, students were asked to rate themselves on the
skills of problem solving,
comprehension and oral communication using the following five point scale:
1 – Quite poor; needs considerable improvement
2
– Only moderate; needs improvement
3 – Quite good, but
still scope for some improvement
4 – Competent; only fine tuning
required
5 – Excellent
In general, the results indicated that
the 17-24 age group tended to rate themselves as either “competent”
or “excellent”
across the skills, while the older age groups were
more critical of their own ability. This would seem to highlight a lack of
self-reflection
on the part of younger students which requires specific
attention on our part. The current feedback from tutors across the particular
first year unit suggests that the younger students’ skills are not as
developed or advanced as they believe. It is anticipated
that the formative
feedback on their comprehension tasks in seminars, together with the summative
feedback on the assessment exercises,
will provide a basis for better informed
and tutor-facilitated self-reflection.
Apart from the stark breakdown between
male and female enrolments, other interesting findings from the survey were the
particular
areas in which the female cohort tended to be more critical of their
ability than their male counterparts. The most dramatic contrast
occurred in the
area of conflict management and resolution. This may lead us to include conflict
management training within the first
year program.
The most significant variations in results are shown in the table below.
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Question |
Male – Competent & Excellent
Responses
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Female – Competent
& Excellent Responses |
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Listening skills – remain calm in the face of
threatening situations
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58.8% |
37.1% |
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Oral skills – deal appropriately with threatening
situations
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61.8% |
37.9% |
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Body language skills – make appropriate eye contact
with others
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60.3% |
70.9% |
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Problem solving skills – identify an issue within a
given fact situation
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53.7% |
42.7% |
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Problem solving skills – generate alternative solutions
to the problem
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58.8% |
38.7% |
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Problem solving skills – implement the plan
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54.4% |
44.6% |
Review of Learning Objectives for the Unit
The learning objectives for each unit should clearly indicate the skills to be developed, the methods used to develop the skills, the competency level expected of the student upon completion of the unit, and the methods for assessment of the skill. While generic skills have often been “taught” implicitly in the past, it is obviously preferable and more effective that they be taught by explicit identification of the skills in unit descriptions and assessments. Students need to be informed very early in their studies how and why they are going to be taught generic skills, how these skills preface the development of legally specific skills, and what part they, as students, should be playing in developing these skills.
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First year example In the 1st semester, 1st year unit, Legal Institutions and Method,
as mentioned above, the skills specifically concentrated on are:
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_ oral communication The Study Guide for the unit, which
is produced each year by the teaching team, deals specifically with why
these skills have been chosen as the focus, what level of achievement is
expected for each skill on completion of the unit, how the skills
will be
developed through the course of the semester, and how all of this relates to the
first year course as a whole. This is reinforced
in the very first lecture,
where the bigger picture (through to graduation) is presented, and again in the
first seminar in the unit.
The Legal Institutions and Method Study Guide
sets out the detail of this information as follows:
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Why these skills?
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Each unit in the first year program will take responsibility for the
development of a certain number of the identified skills for
the Faculty. The
skills chosen for Legal Institutions and Method are intended to provide
the platform for development of higher level skills in the second semester of
first year and later years
in your degree.
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What is the level of achievement expected for each skill on completion
of the unit?
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Oral communication
You will be expected to be able to speak clearly and logically within a seminar group and to convey an idea or issue to another person within your group. You will be expected to use appropriate language and demonstrate active use of listening skills. |
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Comprehension and analysis
This will involve a two step process. First, you will be expected to be able to analyse a short piece of writing or case so as to answer set questions. The second step in the process is the development of analytical skills. You will be expected to be able to analyse a piece of work by answering set questions. The skill of analysis will be developed further in Laws and Global Perspectives in second semester. |
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Problem solving
You will be introduced to basic problem solving. You will be expected to use the approach to problem solving in Legal Institutions and Method and in your other units, including Torts and Contract. By the end of this unit you will be expected to be able to use a simple problem solving approach. Problem solving will be developed to a higher level in Legal Research and Writing, Torts and Contract. |
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How will each of the skills be developed?
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Each of the skills will be developed through a process of instruction,
practice, formative feedback, reflection, and summative assessment.
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Oral communication
You will receive feedback in relation to your performance in seminars from the tutor. Prior to each seminar you should use the questions posed under “Assessment Criteria for Seminar Performance” in 8.5 of this Introductory Guide as a checklist. Following the seminar you should again address the questions listed for seminar performance and consider how your performance could be improved. |
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Comprehension and analysis
Instruction will be given in small group discussions in relation to comprehension skills and you will be given the opportunity to practise those skills as part of the seminar program. The tutor and other students will provide feedback on your attempts during the sessions. The comprehension exercise will provide feedback in relation to the improvement of your comprehension skills. Following this exercise you will be required, as part of the small group discussion, to reflect on how your performance could be improved. You will be given a further opportunity to practise your skills in light of your reflection in seminar program. The final assessment of your comprehension skills will occur in the exam. |
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Problem solving
You will be introduced to basic problem solving through the Study Guide and in lectures. You will be given the opportunity to practise your problem solving techniques during the small group discussions. In particular, you will be required to apply the problem solving technique to solve statutory interpretation questions. You will also be able to practise your problem solving technique in Torts and Contract. Feedback will be given during small group discussions. Your problem solving skills will be assessed in the exam. |
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How does this relate to the first year curriculum as a whole?
In the first year of your studies you will be given the opportunity to
develop a basic level of competency in each of the three generic
attributes
detailed above. This will be achieved by an integrated and developmental
approach across the whole of the first year curriculum.
You will be required to
use and build on the skills acquired in Legal Institutions and Method in
your second semester units and in the later years of your degree. For example,
you will be expected to use and develop your problem
solving skills in Legal
Research and Writing, Torts and Contract. You should not
assume that just because you were assessed on that particular skill in Legal
Institutions and Method that you will not need to use it again.
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Review of Teaching Strategies
Depending on the level of skill to be achieved, teaching strategies should aim to put the skill within the context of the unit content and to give the skill a real world meaning. This should be made feasible by an appropriate matching of the skill with the unit content. Again, the linkage should be made explicit to students.
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First year example In Legal Institutions and Method, one of the skills developed is
that of comprehension and analysis. The emphasis on “comprehension”
is not accidental.
One of the commonly identified skill deficiencies in first
year law students is an inability to comprehend, not just legal writing,
but any
piece of even mildly sophisticated prose. The positioning of basic comprehension
and analysis skills in this unit is appropriate,
given the place of Legal
Institutions and Method in the degree as the foundation unit and
“comprehension and analysis” as the generic foundation of legal
reasoning.
Students are provided with “Comprehension Guidelines”
which progress from a basic level of instruction through
to the more difficult
aspect of analysing that which has been comprehended. The Guidelines are
practised and reinforced in seminar
exercises where the examples used are
writings on unit content introduced in lectures. Case noting exercises and
statutory interpretation
instruction are presented as legally specific examples
of generic comprehension: the ability to navigate a statute and a case report,
and then to analyse and interpret cases and statutes in response to specific
questions posed, are put in the context of the generic
skill of comprehension
and analysis.
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Review of Assessment
Assessment methods for each
unit should be revised to ensure appropriate assessment tasks for both
substantive content and skills.
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First year example In the Study Guide for a unit such as Legal Institutions and Method,
each piece of assessment in the unit is explicitly linked to the unit objectives
(as you would expect) and the skills being developed
by the particular item.
For example:
Performance is measured
against:
_ presentation
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The criteria upon which performance is assessed are:
_ Attendance – this concerns physical attendance at seminars
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_ Did the student comply with the student guidelines in relation to seminar or small group conduct?
The criteria against which
performance is measured include:
_ presentation |
Reporting Attribute and Skill Attainment and Competency – The Graduate Profile
Any reporting procedure on students’
attributes, skills and progress should have a two-fold purpose. First, students
need to
be able to track their own development and document their skill
attainment (at the various levels of progression) through a reflective
process.
Second, students need to be able to use the record for employment purposes.
These purposes are satisfied by the development
of a student attribute profile.
At QUT the development of a student/graduate attribute profile is occurring at a
university level
as part of the ATN Project. The Law Faculty project aims to
utilise the system developed by the ATN Project for the recording of
graduate
attributes.
Issues that have been identified for the development of such a
system include:
IMPLICATIONS AND ISSUES
The final part of this article will raise, as discussion points, some of the implications and issues that arise for legal education when it embraces an explicit skills approach. The purpose is not to suggest absolute solutions to these problems but to raise an awareness of some of the difficulties that may be encountered when embarking on this wholesale curriculum change.
Change in Paradigm
The development of an authentic learning environment for the delivery of skills teaching and learning requires law academics to change their teaching focus:
This may result in teaching staff wanting to focus upon more easily assessable skills (such as library and computer skills) and disregarding the more complex skills of team work, oral communication and research.
Staff Development
Many staff may consider that they do not possess the necessary skills that are now expected of their students on graduation. Likewise, some staff may not consider themselves competent to teach or assess many of the skills. These concerns need to be addressed as part of staff development. In particular, there is a need to address the generation of a staff development model designed to enhance the instructors’ ability to facilitate, assess and guide generic attribute development in students. This may require other academics who are expert in the particular skill to provide staff training, or for the expert academic teacher to become a member of a particular teaching team for the purpose of assisting existing team members to develop the skill. In either case, the emphasis should be on collaboration between staff members. Staff development will also be assisted by the compilation of readily available staff resources for the teaching of generic attributes.
Staff Commitment
The level of staff commitment may be affected by a number of factors:
It is important that barriers such as these are appropriately recognised and overcome. It is clear that there is a need for academic and support staff to collaborate in the development of workable guidelines and policies to implement skills development. It is equally necessary that a collection of practical resources to integrate generic skills across curricula is made available at a university level and is accessible to all staff. These various issues require substantial goodwill on the part of all involved and a “whole of university” commitment to the validity of skills training as discussed above. To ensure that staff ownership of units is not lost, staff should be active participants within the process from an early stage, particularly in the development of the curriculum.
Resources and Workload
The Faculty needs to give careful consideration to
the issue of resources and workload. The shift in teaching paradigm necessary
for
the successful inculcation of skills within an existing curriculum places
increased burdens on staff members in terms of reconceptualisation,
assessment
methodology, and marking. The Faculty should be prepared to allocate resources
to assist staff in making the transition
and in sustaining the learning
environment for students. This may necessitate a reconsideration of workloads
and a creative allocation
of resources.
The supply of “hard”
resources is also necessary, particularly in the area of information technology.
Sufficient hardware
(and software) needs to be provided for both students and
staff to enable development of computer and information technology skills.
IT
support is also an important issue, given generally increased workloads.
Student Response
Student response to a change in focus from
content to skills development embedded in content may be mixed. While all
students may see the ultimate benefit in developing their skills at
university,
many may consider they already possess sufficient levels of skills competency.
Others may perceive skills attainment
and improvement to be too confronting and
as having the potential to pull down their marks in a very competitive student
environment.
Strategies to engage students in the validity of skills learning
might include:
CONCLUSION
This article has sought to demonstrate that an integrated and incremental
approach to embedding generic and legally specific skills
in an undergraduate
law curriculum is a challenge that must now be embraced. At the very least the
call cannot be ignored. University
hierarchies, employers, graduates, students
and other informed professional bodies are all demanding that law school
curricula equip
their law graduates with the appropriate level of skills
attainment to enable a seamless transition from the academic world to the
professional, global and ever-changing workplace.
While meeting such a
challenge may be laborious and burdensome, and will certainly require enormous
effort and commitment on the part
of all stakeholders, it is nevertheless a
cause deserving of our allegiance. To decline the challenge will lead ultimately
to the
irrelevance of law teaching as a discipline and to the disintegration of
the value of the professional degree.
APPENDIX
QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY GENERIC SKILLS
Knowledge/Problem-solving
Ethical/Attitudinal
Social/Relational
* Assistant Dean, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology.
** Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology.
©2001. (2000) 11 Legal Educ Rev 207.
† The authors wish to thank other members of the QUT Law Faculty Teaching and Learning Large Grant Project Team for their contributions, in particular Natalie Cuffe, the Project’s Consultant Librarian; and Annette Marfording for her detailed and helpful comments.
1 For this definition, we have drawn on J Bowden et al, Generic Capabilities of ATN University Graduates ATN Report (Sydney: Teaching and Learning Committee, Australian Technology Network, 2000) <http://www.clt.uts.edu.au/ATN.grad.cap.project.index.html> .
2 Australian Law Reform Commission, Managing Justice – A Review of the Federal Civil Justice System Report No 89 (Canberra: AGPS, 1999) [referred to as ALRC Report No 89] para 2.21.
3 American Bar Association, Legal Education and Professional Development – An Educational Continuum (Chicago: ABA, 1992) (MacCrate Report) [referred to as MacCrate Report].
4 ALRC Report No 89, supra note 2, at para 2.21. The relevant recommendation of the ALRC was: “Recommendation 2. In addition to the study of core areas of substantive law, university legal education in Australia should involve the development of high level professional skills and a deep appreciation of ethical standards and professional responsibility”: id at para 2.89.
5 Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, Australian Law Schools: A Discipline Assessment for the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (Canberra: AGPS, 1987) (Pearce Report) [referred to as Pearce Report] 30-31, 90-91.
6 C McInnis, S Marginson & A Morris, Australian Law Schools After the 1987 Pearce Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1994) 168-70, 387-91.
7 G Hart, J Bowden and J Watters, Graduate Capabilities: A Framework for Assessing Course Quality (1999) 24(2) Higher Education in Europe 301-08. See also B de la Harpe et al, Quality and Generic (Professional) Skills, unpublished paper, Curtin University of Technology, 1999, at 3.
8 MacCrate Report, supra note 3, at 138-41.
9 For example, New York University, Berkeley, William and Mary College and Boston University.
10 National Centre for Legal Education, Benchmark Standards for Law Degree in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Warwick: UK Centre for Legal Education, 1998) <http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/news/lereports.html> .
11 J Bell and J Johnstone, General Transferable Skills in the Law Curriculum (Warwick, UK Centre for Legal Education, 1998) <http://www.ukcle. ac.uk/news/ldnreport.html> .
12 Id.
13 Id.
14 Supra note 10.
15 Involving the Queensland University of Technology, RMIT, University of Technology Sydney, University of South Australia, Curtin University [referred to as ATN Project].
16 Bowden et al, supra note 1.
17 Prior to the ATN Project, Queensland University of Technology had already developed a set of generic attributes for all students graduating from the university: see the Appendix.
18 ALRC, supra note 2, at para 2.85.
19 S Vignaendra, Australian Law Graduates Career Destinations (Sydney: Centre for Legal Education, 1998) (Vignaendra Report) [referred to as Vignaendra Report] 39.
20 AC Nielsen Research Services, Employer Satisfaction with Graduate Skills (Canberra: Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, 2000) <http://deet.gov.au/archive/highered/eippubs/eip99-7/eip99_7pdf. pdf>
21 A Lamb, Preparation for Practice: Recent Developments in Practical Legal Training in Australia, paper presented at the Commonwealth Legal Education Association Conference “Innovation in Legal Education”, University of Adelaide, April 2000, at 16.
22 Hart, Bowden and Watters, supra note 7, at 301-08.
23 It has been recognised that an appropriate balance between skills training and acquisition of substantive knowledge will need to be achieved. Some strategies developed to facilitate this include:
24 It is anticipated that, ultimately, a system developed by the university will be used.
25 Vignaendra Report, supra note 19, at 39.
26 MacCrate Report, supra note 3, at 138-41.
27 F Martin, The Integration of Legal Skills into the Curriculum of the Law Degree: The Queensland University of Technology Perspective (1995) 13(1) Journal of Professional Legal Education 45.
28 It must be pointed out that each and every table the team has produced has been modified a significant number of times. Further, each is still treated as work-in-progress.
29 Appendix.
30 de la Harpe et al, supra note 7, at 3.
31 In 2001, it is proposed to distribute these
skills also between the core first year units, utilising a bank of on-line
resources for
skills instruction.
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