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LEGAL STUDIES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS: THE NEW SOUTH
WALES EXPERIENCE
PATTY KAMVOUNIAS*
INTRODUCTION
The extraordinary growth and popularity of legal studies in New South Wales secondary schools clearly demonstrates the interest of school students in the law and confirms that legal education is not the exclusive domain of the universities. Much of the literature on legal education focuses on tertiary legal education with very little attention being given to legal education in secondary schools.1 What exactly is being taught in the secondary school legal studies courses? How and by whom should such courses be taught? In this article, I outline the content of the legal studies courses in New South Wales and argue that the current courses and the plans for further developments are overly ambitious for several reasons, including, that the course content has not been kept to reasonable limits and that in some instances may be overly technical. As part of my argument, I discuss the assistance currently offered to legal studies teachers to illustrate the ambitious nature of the courses in New South Wales. Secondary school teachers are not lawyers, yet they are being called upon to teach “law” or more correctly, to teach “about the law”. Being “teachers” they know how to teach but now they are necessarily concentrating on what to teach.
WHY TEACH LEGAL STUDIES IN SECONDARY SCHOOL?
Most commentators agree that legal studies courses
have a legitimate place in secondary schools. The main reasons advanced for this
are: education in survival skills,2 citizenship
Education,3 and education in critical
thinking.4 Other reasons for including legal studies
courses in the secondary school curriculum include: the value of a liberal
education,5 delinquency
prevention,6 and ethics
education.7 Perhaps, legal studies should be taught
simply to overcome what has been described as “a staggering ignorance of
matters legal.”8 Despite these views, some still
believe that legal studies courses are inappropriate for secondary schools.
Given that legal education
has in the past generally only been available to
lawyers and to students who studied law with a view to becoming lawyers,
Lindgren
has noted that some lawyers “may feel threatened by the notion of
legal education for lay people, particularly where the instigation
and control
of such activity lies elsewhere than within the legal
profession.”9 Tertiary institutions may also be
reluctant to accept that some form of legal studies can be taught successfully
in schools; this
was one of the early obstacles to the introduction of the legal
studies course in Victoria.10
Dobson11 takes the view that a little knowledge,
far from being a dangerous thing, is better than no knowledge at all. He
stresses, however,
that —
“... much depends upon what exactly is taught and the approach that is taken. The teaching needs to inculcate caution; it should not pretend to make children experts and it should lead them to avoid the dogmatic or glib answer. They should be taught to doubt and to question. However all of this can be said of any education, whatever the subject being taught. It certainly does not ... [mean that law is] a peculiar subject too specialised, difficult or esoteric to be allowed into the understanding of ordinary folk.”12
Course content then is all important, as is the approach taken to teaching a legal studies course. There are basically two options when deciding the approach to be taken to teaching law in schools. Legal studies courses may either be rule based “black letter law” courses or broader conceptual courses focussing on fundamental principles and law as regulation of society. Again, most commentators reject giving secondary school students a “boiled down version of what undergraduates ... have traditionally been given.”13 Teaching such students a lot of detailed rules is not appropriate “either from a jurisprudential or from an educational point of view. There is more to law than substantive rules and there is more to legal education, at any level, than learning those rules.”14
BACKGROUND
Justice Michael Kirby, an advocate of Legal Studies in schools for many years, recently commented that:
“... If the law moves at a languid pace, the educational establishment is not much better .... Half a generation of school students have passed through the educational system since we began calling for the teaching of Legal Studies in schools in this state. The ways of curriculum reform are wondrously slow.”15
The Law Foundation of New South Wales established the Higher School Education Law Project (HELP) in early 1975 to develop curriculum materials and examine methods of introducing and teaching law in high schools.16 HELP did not favour the study of particular areas of substantive law nor did it aim to introduce Legal Studies as a subject in its own right. Instead, HELP aimed at giving a “legal dimension” to subjects already being taught —
“to get students to examine the law as it relates to various themes or topic areas, e.g. the environment, jobs, consumerism, industrial relations, etc., ... in such a way we feel the non-legally trained teacher, supported by resources and possibly some familiarisation in, preferably at both pre-service and in-service stages of their teaching careers, can meet the challenge of raising the average ability student’s awareness and understanding of the relationship between legal principles and processes and the everyday reality of living in our changing society”17
The current Legal Studies course is a separate
subject in its own right but it certainly reflects this philosophy. The debate
about
the level of introduction of legal studies, and the degree of detail in
which it would be taught held up its introduction for many
years.
The Board
of Senior School Studies had allowed individual schools to introduce courses as
“Other Approved Studies” to
cater for student interest; grades were
recorded on the Higher School Certificate (“HSC”) but did not count
towards a
student’s “best ten aggregate mark” — some law
related subjects had been taught in New South Wales schools
under this scheme
from the early 1970s.18
In the early 1980s a
working party was established through the efforts of the Legal Education
Teachers Association (LETA) and it submitted
the idea of a separate Legal
Studies course to the Board. The Board accepted this suggestion in 1985 and
established a committee
charged with the task of setting up the syllabus. The
syllabus committee was made up of representatives from a number of universities,
the Department of Education, independent and Catholic Schools, the
Teachers’ Federation and parents groups. Interestingly,
the legal
profession was not directly represented on the Committee; the Law Society of New
South Wales did not have a representative
on the committee but was granted
observer status, so it did have the opportunity to have some
input.19
The first syllabus committee produced the
syllabus for Legal Studies in Years 11 and 12 that was finally approved by the
New South
Wales Board of Secondary Education in August 1988. The 2 Unit Legal
Studies course was designed to be taught over 240 hours of timetabled
school
time over two years. The syllabus was introduced in 1989 to those schools that
wanted to offer it and the first HSC examination
was held in 1990. Almost 2,000
students sat the first HSC Legal Studies examination; approximately 7,000
students sat the examination
in 1991 and more than 10,000 sat the examination in
1992.20
The New South Wales Board of Studies
recently undertook a review of the Legal Studies course and in September 1993
approved a new
syllabus for the 2 Unit course for implementation in Year 11,
1994.
The Board offers courses of study for the HSC at 1, 2, 3 or 4 Unit
level with the 3 and 4 Unit levels reflecting a higher standard
of achievement.
In late October 1992, the Minister for Education approved the introduction of a
3 Unit Legal Studies Course for Year
11 in 1993 and Year 12 in 1994. In view of
the history of the 2 Unit course it was surprising that the Board expected a 3
Unit course
to be approved in such a short time. In March 1993 the Board
published a writing brief for the 3 Unit syllabus and invited comment.
Later
that year it approved a pilot 3 Unit syllabus for implementation in 1994.
THE ORIGINAL 2 UNIT LEGAL STUDIES SYLLABUS
The rationale of the course is stated as follows:
“The course is designed to develop an understanding of the law appropriate for all. The syllabus is NOT designed to prepare students for further study in law or to advise others about the law BUT rather to prepare them to participate effectively in everyday life.”21
Goldring notes that the syllabus is designed for all students, not only those going on to tertiary study and certainly not for those who hope to become lawyers,
“but rather is an exercise in community education about the law. It is concerned with themes and concepts which are examined through the study of particular areas of law”.22
As stated in the syllabus document, Legal Studies aims to assist students to:
The syllabus also contains a very long list of objectives with respect to knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.24 For example, students should be able, inter alia, to develop the language, research and analytical skills required for understanding and evaluating legal issues and to participate effectively in resolving legal disputes through formal and informal processes (such as negotiation and mediation).25 A Legal Studies study guide26 discusses the skills necessary to be a good Legal Studies student; such a student should “understand basic legal terms; identify legal issues; develop research skills; apply legal principles; become ‘legally literate’.”
Course Content
The syllabus document is very detailed. Each topic is discussed in terms of the area of study (this indicates the general topic as well as specific knowledge and skills to be covered); issues (these raise questions for discussion, linking areas of knowledge to the themes of the course); and notes and comments (this indicates possible methodologies and aspects of the subject matter requiring emphasis).27 The syllabus stresses themes; students are not expected to acquire a detailed knowledge of the law — “they are to concentrate on broader issues and avoid becoming distracted by detailed rules and regulations.”28 The central theme of the course is stated to be: “the inter- relationship between the concepts of Justice, Law and Society”.29 Diekman notes that the central theme could almost be the subtitle of the course; every topic studied is important only because of the light it sheds upon the theme.30 Subsidiary themes which are used to develop the central theme are:
One of the problems facing legal studies teachers is not knowing how to interpret the syllabus. As an approach to the course, Roberts has stated that the emphasis must be on the themes first and the content second —
“with this approach the three options and the one case study ... cannot be taught as isolated units. Cross-references, reflecting the themes, are essential to gain a full understanding of the issues”34
Teachers must plan their classes well in advance.
Issues in the introductory and concluding topics must be referred to throughout
the other areas of study with the result that at the very beginning of Year 11,
students and teachers need to know what they will
be concentrating on at the end
of Year 12.
The themes are to be explored through studying five topics. The
introductory topic — The Legal System — is compulsory;
it is
designed to give students a background and basic vocabulary so that they can
understand the later areas of study and to provide
the basic skills and concepts
required for the remainder of the course.35 Students
are then required to study three topics selected from a list of six options:
Consumers and the Law;36 Crime and the
Law;37 Environment and the
Law;38 the Family and the
Law;39 Housing and the Law;40
and the Workplace and the Law.41
Students must then
in the compulsory concluding topic, consider the nature and meaning of Law and
Justice. This topic is divided into
three inter-related parts:
Part I
— The nature of law and justice;
It is envisaged that in this part of
the course:
“inquiring minds will be stimulated and excited by the ideas of some of history’s great thinkers. Ultimately, however, they must learn to think for themselves. Grappling with the concept of justice they will learn to appreciate the enormous complexity of the task confronting lawmakers .... Armed with some philosophical awareness students then go on to examine ...”42
Part II
— The individual and the state; and
Part III — Case studies
where students are to choose one of a number of disadvantaged
groups43 and look at how and why these people have been
denied justice under the law:
“Using the skills and insights developed throughout the course, students will be able to deal with the issues raised in a manner which is both sensitive and informed”.44
The
course can be described in one word: ambitious. The objectives, the content, the
methods of assessment are all extremely ambitious.
The content in a course
said to be designed for all and not only those contemplating tertiary study is
overly technical. Justice Kirby
has noted that the “large slabs of
legislation relevant to consumers’ rights may get down to a level of
detail that even
experienced judges and lawyers find it difficult to
remember.45
The concluding compulsory topic on law
and justice appears particularly ambitious: it looks very much like a university
jurisprudence
course. Although it is stated in the syllabus document that
students are not required to conduct any sort of detailed study of legal
theory,
reference is also made to a number of established schools of thought such as
positivism, utilitarianism and natural law and
to major writers such as Bentham,
Austin and Marx.46 Is this within the capabilities of
school students who are doing the course “to prepare them to participate
effectively in
everyday life”?
Assessment
The final examination in Legal Studies is based on
the 1988 syllabus document and, like all HSC papers, is externally set: 20% is
allocated to multiple choice questions based on the compulsory units; 80% is
allocated to essays on the optional topics and on the
concluding topic with a
focus on the case study. The multiple choice component of the examination could
be the cause of some concern.
There are a limited number of ways to ask multiple
choice questions on the compulsory topics; short answer questions may be a
preferred
option. The Board distributes guidelines as to how examination essays
are ranked. It is interesting to note that the “ A answer
is that which
exhibits “evaluation/logical argument and valid
interpretation”.47 Are the essay questions being
asked consistent with the rationale of the course? It seems not. The HSC
examiners report that students
have problems with evaluative questions. How can
a student be expected, for example, to “evaluate the approach that
consumer
law has taken to ... at least three specific problem areas such as
faulty or unsuitable goods and services, finance, advertising,
and product
standards ...”48 if they do not have a good
working knowledge of the law in the relevant area? Although not a rule based
course, in order to answer
the essay questions a detailed knowledge of rules
appears to be required. Furthermore, the HSC examiners are also critical of the
essays in that the students are not referring to appropriate cases!
The
syllabus also sets out guidelines for school assessment of student achievement
and states that a range of assessment instruments
must be used, including mock
trials and mini-trials.49 Is this yet another ambitious
aspect of the course? Are secondary school teachers capable of devising and
assessing this type of
exercise?
Le Brun warns that:
“... we must check that the aims and objectives of our courses are realistic, achievable and compatible, and are devised, examined and criticised by individuals who have a solid foundation in law in context, and law, if our curriculum is so designed. One must bear in mind, however, that as the balance between rule orientation and a contextual understanding of the law has yet to be satisfactorily achieved in law schools, it would be amazing were it successfully managed in Australian secondary schools were it attempted.”50
There is also much emphasis placed on the HSC examination paper itself, i.e. in in-services, textbooks, study guides, and so on. Students and teachers are advised to include in their study programme a study of the actual HSC examination papers from previous years and the examiner’s reports in relation thereto.
“Familiarity with past papers is so important.”51
The
form and content of prior examinations seems to dictate what happens in the
classroom.
Le Brun notes that:
“... legal studies teachers who are untrained in law will have to place an even greater reliance on secondary sources and authorities, the established curriculum, or a particular teaching context than ever before. In order to cope with any understandable feelings of inadequacy ... such teachers may reach for past examination papers and teach to them ... “52
Le Brun argues that having teachers who lack
confidence in the subject matter they teach and who use examinations to
determine what
should be taught is inconsistent with good learning. In these
circumstances, teachers are unable to give sufficient attention to
the student
learner and are “pollut[ing] the educational enterprise because students
learn ... that education involves ‘beating
the system’, whether that
system be the award of HSC grades or otherwise”.53
As is the standard procedure for all new courses, the 2 Unit Legal
Studies syllabus was reviewed by the Board of Studies in 1992.
A survey was sent
to all schools in New South Wales to see what was happening with the 2 Unit
course and whether there was sufficient
demand for a 3 Unit course. The results
of the survey yielded some interesting results.54
Teachers did not always teach the course in the order suggested by the
syllabus nor did they spend the recommended time on each section.
Of the
optional topics, the most popular by far were Crime and the Law and the Family
and the Law; of the case studies, Aborigines
and Women were the most popular
choices. This choice of topics was, surprisingly, not the result of staff
expertise or available
resources but, due to student interest. Most responses
favoured maintaining the course aims and objectives, range of topics and school
assessment guide, but there were significant numbers favouring a reduction in
the compulsory and an expansion in the optional topics.
Most responses also
thought the HSC exam format was appropriate but a not insignificant number, i.e.
34%, did not or were unsure.
The overwhelming majority of responses believed a 3
Unit course would receive student support.
THE REVISED 2 UNIT LEGAL STUDIES SYLLABUS
As already noted, the Board of Studies has approved a
new 2 Unit syllabus for implementation in 1994. The rationale, aims, objectives,
central themes, subsidiary themes, range of topics and methods of assessment are
virtually identical to those in the syllabus approved
in 1988; what is very
different is the course structure. Instead of one course designed to be taught
over two years, the course sequence
for Legal Studies now includes a Preliminary
Course and an HSC course.55
The Preliminary course
consists of three compulsory topics that are to be studied in the order listed
in the syllabus, namely, The
Legal System; The Legal System in Practice: Crime
and the Law; and The Effectiveness of Criminal Law.56
Assessment of student achievement in the Preliminary course is school based and
is not subject to moderation for the HSC and therefore
will not contribute to
the HSC Assessment mark.57 The syllabus states that
“[s]uch formal assessment conducted during the Preliminary course becomes
a learning experience for
the student whose performance should therefore benefit
when similar techniques are applied in the HSC Course for final assessment
purposes.58
In the HSC Course, a further two
compulsory topics and two optional topics are to be completed. The compulsory
introductory topic
is Overview of the Australian Legal System. The overview is
followed by two optional topics examining the law in five specific areas.
The
optional topic areas are the same as in the 1988 syllabus (with the exception of
the topic Crime and the Law). The concluding
topic of Law and Justice is also
compulsory as it was in the 1988 syllabus.59
The
new syllabus clarifies the order that the topics are to be studied. The
restructuring of the course has also reduced the optional
and increased the
compulsory areas of study. This is contrary to the changes suggested by the
respondents to the 2 Unit syllabus
review survey.
Furthermore, the
restructured course places a much greater emphasis on criminal law. Although
Crime and the Law was one of the popular
optional topics, it now becomes a
compulsory topic taking up 25% of total course time.60
The additional time allocated to criminal law is at the expense of time
allocated to the optional topics. Justice Kirby was
critical61 of the emphasis that the 1988 syllabus
placed upon criminal law because criminal law is only a small part of the
operation of the
law as such — and that was a criticism when criminal law
was only an optional topic taking up approximately one-seventh of
total course
time. It is difficult to see why secondary school legal studies students will
now be required to spend so much of their
time on criminal law.
THE 3 UNIT LEGAL STUDIES SYLLABUS
The 3 Unit Legal Studies syllabus is for those
students who are studying the 2 Unit subject and wish to study it in more depth.
The
3 Unit syllabus “will enable students to deepen and strengthen the
knowledge and skills of the 2 Unit syllabus”.62
in an additional 60 hours of class time. As well as providing “an
educational response to a growing societal need to know and
understand
ourselves, society and the role of law.63 the stated
rationale of the course is “[t]o build upon the existing 2 Unit syllabus
in Legal Studies and expand the students
(sic) knowledge of the law at an
International level.”64
The 3 Unit syllabus
aims to assist students to:
As with the 2 Unit syllabus, the 3 Unit syllabus document contains a detailed list of objectives and outcomes with respect to knowledge and understandings, skills, attitudes and values.66 The stated objectives and outcomes illustrate the increased level of difficulty of the 3 Unit syllabus. For example, with respect to skills, it is envisaged that students should be able to use higher order forms of communication, use primary sources including treaties and cases, and demonstrate independence in research and in analysis.67
Course Content
The draft 3 Unit syllabus published in early 1993
required students to study two out of five modules with each module focussing on
Australia in the international context.
The five modules were:
The focus of the course in on legal responses to global challenges. In each module students are expected to examine:
However, in the pilot syllabus to be implemented in 1994 students are required to study an introductory overview to international law70 and the following two compulsory modules:
Within each of the Modules there is a choice of four “Depth Studies” two of which must be studied. In Module 1 the Depth Studies are: The Marine Environment, The Atmosphere, Natural Resources and Wildlife. In Module 2 the Depth Studies are: Multi-Media Technology, Bio-Technology and Bio-Ethics, Communication Technology, and Technological Fraud.72
Assessment
Mandatory assessment weightings are given for each
component of the course.73 The design of an assessment
program is left to the professional judgement of teachers who must ensure that
the selected assessment
instruments cover both knowledge and skills for it is
this assessment that is used to determine end of course achievement which forms
the basis of the moderated Assessment Mark in Legal Studies.74
Students are also required to sit an HSC examination for the 3 Unit
course for which they will be awarded a single mark out of 50.
The examination
paper is to contain two sections corresponding to the two modules set out in the
syllabus. Students must attempt
two questions, one from each of the two
sections. All questions require an essay type answer.75
If the 2 Unit course is ambitious then the 3 Unit course can only be
described as overwhelming. As noted earlier, the survey of the
2 Unit course
revealed that the most popular topics were Crime and the Law, the Family and the
Law, Aborigines and Women. Students
undertaking the 3 Unit course in 1994 will
not be able to study any of these topics in more depth. Even when the 3 Unit
course is
fully implemented, students who wish to do the additional 3 Unit work
will not be studying the 2 Unit topics in more detail but will
apparently be
doing a short course in international and comparative law. One cannot doubt the
increased level of difficulty of the
3 Unit course when it includes such topics
as the law of the sea and multilateral treaties, international instruments and
agencies
protecting technology, bioethics and genetic engineering and
technological fraud. If the 3 Unit syllabus in its final form attempts
any
detailed analysis of these and the other topics within the abovementioned
modules it will be difficult to imagine how teachers
and students will be able
to cope with the material. The course will undoubtedly put greater strain on
teachers in terms of training
and resources. The 3 Unit pilot syllabus document
does not explain why it is that the syllabus committee decided that an
understanding
of the international dimensions of legal issues was essential for
secondary school students who wished to study Legal Studies in
more depth.
Tertiary students can be awarded a Bachelor of Laws degree at most universities
with perhaps one or two semesters of
international law type subjects in their
entire degree; it appears secondary school students interested in law will only
get through
HSC Legal Studies with one-third of their final grade determined by
their achievement in the same type of subjects.
It is obvious that the Board
of Studies approved the introduction of the 3 Unit pilot syllabus to meet a 1994
deadline because it
is offering students only two of the five proposed modules.
Students and teachers have therefore been left with no choice as to the
topic
areas they study. The 2 Unit optional topic the Environment and the Law,
provides a good base on which to build further study
in Module l. However, if
students have not studied this topic at 2 Unit level, they will have difficulty
understanding the material
in the 3 Unit Module on Global Environmental
Protection. It will be interesting to see how many schools and how many students
actually
take up the 3 Unit Course in 1994.
A further difficulty with the 3
Unit course will be finding texts to cover the range of topics that are at a
level appropriate for
secondary school students. The Board of Studies has
however, published HSC Course Support Documents76 that
appear to be interim texts. The course support documents have been compiled by
the Board with the assistance of, inter alia,
legal practitioners in private
practice and university law school academics. They contain a lot of detailed
information on the topics
covered in the two compulsory modules. They also
include references to a wide range of resources such as traditional legal texts,
articles from law and other academic journals and unpublished conference papers.
Fortunately, the resources referred to can be purchased
from the Board of
Studies. Whether these teaching materials are suitable and whether teachers and
students will benefit from these
materials remains to be seen.
LEGAL STUDIES TEACHERS
The responsibility for teaching the Legal Studies
courses rests with secondary school teachers. Even though the focus of the
courses
is stated not to be on rules but on concepts and themes, they are still
ambitious courses and still demand a specialist background
knowledge and access
to adequate and appropriate teaching materials and up-to-date information.
Unlike university academics who have traditionally been employed without any
training in teaching, secondary school teachers have
had at least one year of
teacher training.
Teachers have been trained to teach but now they are being
called upon to teach a subject in which they may have very little or no
formal
background.
To ensure the success of the Legal Studies course it is
essential that there are teachers equipped to do the work.
The 1992 survey
of the 2 Unit course revealed some interesting facts about the teachers teaching
it. The overwhelming majority of
them were social science teachers (85%) but
there were a number of English/History teachers (13%) and teachers from
“other”
disciplines, namely, 2 language teachers and 1 Home
Economics teacher! Only 5% of Legal Studies teachers had a law degree or
diploma;77 19% had studied law in their degree; 24% had
experience in law from school in-services; and the majority of 39% had no formal
experience
in law at all. The main reason given by teachers for teaching the
course was interest (91%); only 3% chose to do it because of legal
qualifications. “Legal Studies” conjures up a teacher who has a law
degree but this is evidently not the case in New
South Wales.
What type of
qualifications should we require of Legal Studies teachers? Do we want
“lawyers who can teach or teachers who are
lawyers?”78
In 1979 Goldring noted that
—
“Very little thought has been given to the qualifications of law teachers or to the training that should be available to them. Nor has there been much thought given to the relation between the aims of the various types of legal education and the best people to do the teaching.”79
These
issues have yet to be adequately addressed in the literature or by the relevant
authorities.
Very few Legal Studies teachers have law degrees. Many would be
trained in commerce or in economics and so may have completed a few
courses in
commercial law as part of their university degrees. But this type of legal
training in a commerce or an economics degree
is really “learning
law” rather than a study of “the way the law works in
society”80 and so is totally inadequate training
for a course based on concepts of justice, law and society.
Nevertheless,
“The success and the expansion of legal studies in schools suggests that those who are not lawyers can teach about law, though the depth and accuracy of their legal knowledge will in many cases be questionable.”81
Goldring argues that most lawyers are not suited to teaching law in schools because during the time it takes to get a law degree they are socialised into a professional subculture.
“A person who speaks and thinks legalese may find it hard to communicate with the students.”82
He therefore prefers teachers who are trained in law:
“Law teachers at secondary level ... should be teachers first .. .”83
Goldring’s views are echoed in a newsletter84 where teachers are advised that they must observe the philosophy behind the syllabus and not teach a course that is pure law.
“Legal Studies is all about individuals interacting with each other and with groups, their rights and responsibilities and what happens when people neglect their responsibilities ... the very nature of the work undertaken by Social Science and History teachers provides the expertise to teach a subject relating to human relationships. Legal Studies is such a subject.”85
Furthermore, teachers are told not to be concerned if they do not have a law degree —
“Remember — few Law graduates could handle a mixed ability senior class in Legal Studies.”86
Yet, the teachers “cannot teach what
they do not know.”87 Teachers without sufficient
knowledge of the law will not be able to satisfactorily deal with the material
set out in the 2 Unit
and 3 Unit syllabi. It is therefore essential that
resources are made available and courses offered to teachers teaching the
subjects.
What type of assistance is available to non-legally trained
teachers to help them cope with the 2 Unit and 3 Unit Legal Studies courses?
ASSISTANCE TO LEGAL STUDIES TEACHERS
Given the need for some form of legal training for
the teachers responsible for teaching the course, it is important to look at
what
sort of practical assistance is being given or being made available to
Legal Studies teachers. There is a very wide range of sources
of assistance
— from the Department of School Education, the legal profession, the
universities, teacher support groups etc.
— but not all teachers are able
to take advantage of this assistance because they are either not aware of it or
physically
unable to make use of it.
Department of School Education/Board
of Studies At the time the 2 Unit course was introduced, the government
authorities were criticised for their total lack of in-service programmes
to
assist getting the course to together and implementing the requirements of the
syllabus.88 In 1989, the Board established an advisory
body known as the Curriculum Implementation Consultative Group (CICG) to
establish a support
network to assist teachers. The CICG included one
representative from each of the 10 regions in NSW who was trained to organise
in-service
courses and deal with problems faced by teachers in interpreting the
syllabus. The regional representatives were given a lot of extra
work with very
little reward.
All the support from the centre ended when the CICG was
suddenly disbanded at the end of 1990. It was left to other bodies to step
in
and provide in-service courses and activities. It appears that the only
assistance coming now from the Board and/or the Department
is in the form of a
range of publications such as sample answers and support documents that are
available to help teachers through
the HSC
examination.89 Unfortunately, these publications are
not freely available but must be paid for by teachers or their schools.
What
is left is the work of the regional Education Resources Centres that organise
in-service courses on a regional basis, i.e. one
day or half day seminars with
guest speakers such as local Members of Parliament, local solicitors, etc.
Teacher Support Groups
What is also left is the work of the teachers’
own support groups.
From the very beginning, teachers were advised not to
work in isolation but to spend time establishing networks with colleagues
teaching
the course in order to encourage a “free and regular exchange of
approaches, ideas on subject matter, successful lessons, and
resources.”90 LETA first submitted the idea of a
Legal Studies course to the Board but appears to have done very little to assist
the implementation
of the course in the classroom. LETA was started up again in
1992 and it may, through its newsletter, be a means of co-ordinating
all the
work being done by the various bodies.
A lot of work is being done by the
Social Science Teachers’ Associations. Not all regions in NSW have strong
teachers’
associations but those that do also organise in-service courses.
The Metropolitan East Social Science Teachers’ Association
(MESSTA) is
particularly active. With the support of the Law Society of New South Wales,
MESSTA has organised annual state-wide Legal
Studies conferences for the last
few years that have been going from strength to strength: from a one day seminar
in 1990 to a two
day conference in 1991 to two programs over two days in 1992
(one program for teachers teaching the subject for the first time and
the other
for experienced Legal Studies teachers). These conferences are designed to fill
some of the gaps in teacher training and
to give teachers practical advice on
developing teaching materials and resource sharing.91
Conference papers are also published to meet the heavy demand by teachers for
printed materials. Clearly, this sort of activity is
essential to the success of
the Legal Studies courses.
The Legal Profession
There are many potential resources available to
teachers from within the legal profession generally and from the Law Society of
New
South Wales in particular. Again, for these resources to be of any real
value, teachers must be made aware of them.
The Law Society sponsors a
number of schemes designed to assist secondary school students and their
teachers. The Speakers’
Bureau supplies solicitor speakers on any legal
topic to school and community groups; the annual Law Week activities include
programs
relevant to schools, e.g. Schools in Parliament
project.92
The Law Society also organises the
inter-school mock trial93 competition which has become
an important part of many schools’ legal studies activities. Interest in
the competition grows
each year; it began with 28 teams in 1981 and there were
almost 400 teams in 1992.94 The competition complements
the syllabus by showing students how the legal system operates through their
actual participation in
the “trial” and by developing their public
speaking skills. Nevertheless, despite the success of the competition,
participation
is necessarily limited; only a few students actually appear and
argue the case, not the entire class group.
The Law Society assists with the
production of teaching aids for schools by publishing Legal Eagle, a quarterly
publication in newspaper
format that focuses on issues relevant to the syllabus.
Teachers have indicated that Legal Eagle is “relevant, informative
and
useful as a secondary school resource.”95
Whether or not there is a formal scheme in place, many solicitors
will find themselves being asked to speak to school students, particularly
as
Legal Studies grows in popularity.96
Legal Publishers
Books for non law school students have, until
recently, been ignored by the leading legal publishers. However, this situation
has
certainly now changed with a flood of new and revised books on the market
specifically designed to meet the needs of the new target
audience, that is, the
secondary school Legal Studies students.
Butterworths had the first textbook
on the market based on the New South Wales syllabus; it was a “trailblazer
— the text
that others followed.”97 That
text was quickly followed by a second edition that included some chapters that
were completely re-written in light of the demands
of the syllabus and the HSC
exams.98
Other publishers quickly followed
Butterworths’ lead, keen to enter the new and expanding
market.99 These texts are being written by a variety of
authors: legal practitioners, university academics, senior teachers. It appears
that
as the Legal Studies course is becoming more settled, teachers are making a
greater contribution to the content of the texts.
In addition to textbooks,
the legal publishers are now also publishing study guides and teaching aids such
as videos that complement
the texts.100
The Universities
Certainly the universities can offer much to Legal
Studies teachers to address the issue of teacher training and qualifications.
The
University of Sydney,101 for example, runs a series
of evening lectures based on the Legal Studies syllabus especially for teachers.
Macquarie University
also has a course in its Continuing Education Program
designed to assist Legal Studies teachers in becoming more confident with legal
concepts and in developing lesson plans, strategies and resources. This is a
start, but clearly is not enough.102 A postgraduate
course specifically designed for Legal Studies teachers would be ideal but may
face the problem of attracting sufficient
numbers to make the course
economically viable.
There should be demand for such a course as there
appears to be a great need for it. However, demand will not necessarily be high.
Apart from the problem of the fees payable for such a course, which would have
to be met by the individual teachers concerned, is
the problem of the
unwillingness to make a commitment to further study given the uncertainty of
teaching loads; teachers who are
teaching Legal Studies this year are not
guaranteed that they will teach it next year or indeed, ever again. It appears
that short
courses or a series of lectures are the preferred option, at least in
the short term.
The universities should be doing much more. Le Brun and
Clark suggest a number of formal and informal strategies to build a working
partnership between tertiary and secondary legal
educators.103 Moreover, they argue the relationship
between the schools and the universities “must of necessity be reciprocal
and respectful
of the special needs of each.104
“While the tertiary level educator often has valuable expertise in subject matter, many tertiary educators have little or no formal training in education. Accordingly, there is much about pedagogical technique and educational theory and practice which the tertiary educator can learn from colleagues at secondary level, many of whom have a wealth of experience and professional training in teaching.”105
So, there should be an exchange of expertise in subject matter for expertise in teaching. It must be remembered that university law lecturers and secondary school legal studies teachers are both legal educators; the size of the class and the abilities of the students may be different, as may be the purpose of the class, but “we are all in the same boat”.106 Le Brun and Clark call for more research to be done on the relationship between secondary and tertiary legal education to ensure courses are complementary and to consider how the completion of secondary school courses may affect the curriculum taught and pedagogical approaches adopted in first year law study at university.107
Miscellaneous
Teachers can also seek assistance from other sources. The Legal Information Access Centre (“LIAC”), a joint project of the State Library and the Law Foundation of New South Wales, was set up to help people without access to law libraries; this includes, but is not limited to, Legal Studies teachers and students. LIAC provides information about the law, texts, dictionaries, leaflets, Acts, regulations, cases, videos, etc., and publishes a quarterly newsletter that includes a column dedicated to the Legal Studies course. LIAC also organises library tours for student groups with an emphasis on developing basic legal research skills. LIAC staff have noted that one of the main problems facing teachers is that many of them are simply not aware of all the resources that are available that may be useful to them. Those that are aware of LIAC complain that it is not convenient; information will only be given over the telephone to teachers outside the metropolitan area — others have to go in to the library at the only practical time which is on weekends.
The John Fairfax organisation has an Education Unit that provides clippings kits for a number of secondary school subjects, including Legal Studies. These kits are a collection of relevant newspaper articles related to course content; particularly useful as this sort of exercise is often included as an assessment task for students.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Legal Studies deserves a place on the secondary school curriculum in New South Wales. However, in order for it to be an educational success, it is essential that the aims and the objectives of the course are realistic and that the content is kept within reasonable limits. This does not appear to be the case, particularly with the 3 Unit course. Furthermore, it is also essential that adequate training is provided to teachers given that the majority of them have very little or no background in law before taking a Legal Studies class. This training is currently available from a variety of different sources and therein lies the major problem with respect to teacher training: it is not centralised. The Board/Department determine the syllabi and set and mark the HSC examinations, yet they do not organise or even coordinate all the assistance currently available to teachers. How do they ensure that all teachers — and teachers outside the Sydney metropolitan area in particular — have the appropriate level of knowledge to cope with the demands of the Legal Studies courses? As discussed above, teachers and others are doing a lot of work themselves on a regional basis. However, what is also needed is some form of central quality control. With the introduction of the 3 Unit course it is hoped that more is done to assist teachers with the subject matter of the course so that teachers can concentrate on teaching rather than putting most of their efforts into acquiring new substantive knowledge.
* Sydney University, Faculty of Economics, Lecturer in Commercial Law.
1 Indeed, the Centre for Legal Education recently established by the Law Foundation of New South Wales holds material on tertiary legal education only.
2 See: J Edwards, In Defence of Legal Studies (1986) 60 Law Institute Journal 190, at 191; M Kirby, Introduction, in S Churchman, M White, H Williams Rights and Wrongs Legal Studies for Senior Students, Volume 1, (Sydney: CCH, 1992) at. viii; M Kirby, Teaching the Law is an Asset (1983) 18 Education News (No 5) 16, at 18; Note, Legal Studies in Secondary Schools (1979) 53 ALJ 475; and PJ Fitzgerald, Law at School — A Canadian Viewpoint (1978) 128 New Law Journal 300.
3 See further: DRC Chalmers & E Clark, Legal Studies for Tasmania, 3rd ed (Sydney: Butterworths, 1992) at ix; MJ Le Brun & EE Clark, The Growth of Legal Education in Australian Secondary Schools: Implications for Tertiary and Secondary Legal Education (1989) 1 Legal Education Review 217, at 218; Kirby, supra note 2, at 17–18.
4 See: MJ Le Brun, Reflections on Legal Studies Courses in Australian Secondary Schools: Instrument or Liberal Education [1990] AdelLawRw 7; (1990) 12 Adelaide Law Review 389, at 406; and WL Twining, Legal Education for All in DW Mitchell (ed.) Papers on Legal Studies and Legal Education for Non-Lawyers (Butterworths, 1979) at 12 where Twining claims that the academic legal tradition has something special to offer for its modes of reasoning and analysis “are not unique to law, but are merely particular applications of practical reasoning in general and of certain basic human skills, such as skills of rule handling, of spokesmanship and thinking in terms of process and procedure”.
5 ES Magner, The Development of Australian Law, in Committee for Postgraduate Studies Legal Studies in Secondary Schools (Department of Law University of Sydney, 1991) at 1.
6 M Kirby, supra note 2, at 18.
7 Le Brun, supra note 4, at 394–396.
8 AP Dobson, Law Should be Taught in School (1977) 127 New Law Journal 875, at 875:
... Mr. Average has never heard of the word ‘tort’. He is unaware of the existence of an institution called the county court. ... To him a contract is a piece of paper, a document and it has no meaning wider than that ... and he has no conception of the role of our judges in making law whether by extending the common law or in interpreting statutes. These are just examples of what I perceive to be a general public ignorance.
9 KE Lindgren, Legal Studies in Australian Secondary Schools — An Account and Some Issues (1980) 54 ALJ 399, at 399. This fear is not well founded as most legal studies teachers are very conscious of their need of support from the legal profession.
10 Edwards, supra note 2, at 191.
11 Dobson, supra note 8 at 875.
12 Ibid.
13 Twining, supra note 4, at 6.
14 Ibid. See also: Fitzgerald, supra note 2, at 300 and M Whincup, What Should be Taught in School? (1977) 127 New Law Journal 1020, at 1021.
15 Kirby, supra note 2, at vi.
16 Note, supra note 2, at 475.
17 Lindgren, supra note 9, at 400.
18 Ibid.
19 J Bowen, Raising Community Understanding of the Law and Lawyers (1986) 24 Law Society Journal at 57.
20 D Roberts, Legal Studies a Teacher’s Guide (Sydney: Butterworths, 1992) at 2. In fact, 6,893 school students and 214 TAFE and other students sat the 1991 HSC exam. These figures represent approximately 13% of all HSC candidates for that year. See: Board of Studies New South Wales, 1991 Higher School Certificate Examination Statistics (Sydney: Board of Studies, May 1992). Victoria is the acknowledged leader in teaching law and law related subjects in secondary schools. This article will deal only with Legal Studies in New South Wales secondary schools. For developments in other States see: Note, Community Legal Education and Teaching of Law in Australian Schools (1979) 53 ALJ 742; ICE Lindgren, Legal Studies in Australian Secondary Schools — An Account and Some Issues (1980) 54 ALJ 399; M Kirby, Teaching the Law is an Asset (1983) 18 Education News 16; Note, Legal Studies in Queensland (1988) 13 Legal Service Bulletin 38; J Edwards, “In Defence of Legal Studies (1986) 60 Law Institute Journal 190; MJ Le Brun & EE Clark, The Growth of Legal Education in Australian Secondary Schools: Implications for Tertiary and Secondary Legal Education (1989) 1 Legal Education Review 217.
21 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, 2 Unit Legal Studies Syllabus Year 11–12, (Sydney: NSW Department of Education, 1988) at 3.
22 J Goldring, Legal Studies in New South Wales Schools (1988) 13 Legal Service Bulletin 215, at 215.
23 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21, at 5. It is interesting to note that in the July 1991 introduction to the HSC Sample Answers, the Board listed the same 5 aims but in a different order, i.e. what is first on the list in the syllabus is last on the 1991 list. Does this suggest a change in emphasis in the two years of operation of the course?
24 Id at 7–9.
25 Id at 8. These objectives do not appear to be consistent with the stated rationale of the course.
26 C Diekman, Legal Essentials Understanding Australian Law (Sydney: Oxford University Press, 1991) at 5–6.
27 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21, at 14.
28 S Churchman, M White, H Williams Rights and Wrongs Legal Studies for Senior Students Volume 1, (Sydney: CCH, 1992) at iv.
29 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21, at 11.
30 Diekman, supra note 26, at 3.
31 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21, at 11–12.
32 L Boyd, Resources Handbook: A Guide to Legal Studies for New South Wales Years 11 and 12 (Sydney: Butterworths, 1989) at 3.
33 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21, at 11.
34 Roberts, supra note 20, at 3.
35 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21 at 15–22.
36 Id at 23–28.
37 Id at 29–36.
38 Id at 37–44.
39 Id at 45–50.
40 Id at 51–56.
41 Id at 57–62.
42 Churchman et al, supra note 28, at iv.
43 The groups are: Aborigines, migrants, the disadvantaged and women.
44 Churchman et al, supra note 28, at iv.
45 Kirby, supra note 2 at vii.
46 Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21, at 64.
47 Board of Studies New South Wales, 1990 HSC Sample Answers 2 Unit Legal Studies (Sydney: Board of Studies, July 1991) at vi.
48 Board of Studies New South Wales, 1992 Legal Studies Higher School Certificate Examination (Sydney: Board of Studies, November 1992), Question 21.
49 Assessment components and weights: knowledge 40%; critical and analytical skills 30%; observation and research skills 15%; communication skills 15%. See: Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, Legal Studies Specimen Paper and Support Documents (Sydney: NSW Department of Education, March 1989) and Board of Secondary Education New South Wales, supra note 21, at 81.
50 Le Brun, supra note 4, at 423–424.
51 D Roberts, Countdown to the Big Day, The Northern Daily Leader, 22 September 1992.
52 Le Brun, supra note 4, at 419.
53 Ibid.
54 K Ford, 2-Unit Legal Studies Syllabus Review Summary of Responses (Assessment Unit, Board of Studies New South Wales, 1992).
55 Board of Studies New South Wales, Legal Studies Syllabus 2 Unit Preliminary and HSC Courses, (Sydney: Board of Studies, October 1993) at 6.
120 hours is to be allocated to the Preliminary Course and a further 120 hours to the HSC course.
56 Id at 5–6.
57 Id at 28 and at 84.
58 Id at 84.
59 Interestingly, the three parts of this topic are to be done in a different order in the revised syllabus. The order is: i) The individual and the State; ii) Case studies; iii) The nature of law and justice.
60 Crime and the Law (48 hours) + Effectiveness of Criminal Law (12 hours) = Total 60 hours. As an optional topic in the 1988 syllabus, Crime and the Law was allocated one-seventh of total course time (i.e. approx. 34.5 hours)
61 Kirby, supra note 2, at vii.
62 Board of Studies New South Wales, Legal Studies Pilot Syllabus 3 Unit Preliminary and HSC Courses, (Sydney: Board of Studies, November 1993) at 1.
63 Id at 2.
64 Ibid.
65 Id at 3.
66 Id at 4–5.
67 Id at 5.
68 Board of Studies New South Wales, 3 Unit Legal Studies Writing Brief (Sydney: Board of Studies, 8 March 1993) at 1.
69 Id at l.
70 Board of Studies New South Wales, supra note 62, at 6.
71 Ibid.
72 Ibid.
73 Knowledge 40%; Skills 60%, id at 42.
74 Ibid.
75 Id at 40.
76 Board of Studies New South Wales, Legal Studies 3 Unit The Challenge of Technological Change HSC Course Support Document (Sydney: Board of Studies, 1994); Board of Studies New South Wales, Legal Studies 3 Unit The Challenge of Environmental Protection HSC Course Support Document (Sydney: Board of Studies, 1993).
77 Interestingly, in Tasmania one-fifth of Legal Studies teachers surveyed in 1988 held formal qualifications in law. Le Brun & Clark, supra note 3, at 226.
78 Ibid.
79 J Goldring, Learning Law and Learning About Law (1979) 16 Education News (No 2) 8, at 13.
80 Id at 8.
81 Id at 13.
82 Ibid. But the lawyer does have a wealth of anecdotal legal knowledge that the teacher does not have that could make the classroom instruction more interesting.
83 Ibid.
84 Legal Studies Newsletter — North West Region, Number 1, March 1990, at 3.
85 Ibid.
86 Ibid.
87 Goldring, supra note 79, at 13.
88 Boyd, supra note 32, at 2.
89 For example, Board of Studies New South Wales, supra note 47.
90 Boyd, supra note 32, at 2.
91 Law Society Journal, December 1991, at 32.
92 In 1992 a Schools Program sub-committee was formed as a practical link between the profession and teachers. Activities in Law Week include: Schools in Parliament project; speakers in schools, legal tours and visits to courts; competitions, etc.
93 A mock trial is a simulated legal case in which teams contest a fictional legal matter in the mock local/district court. Teams are coached and judged by legal practitioners.
94 Law Society Journal, February 1992, at 54.
95 Bowen, supra note 19, at 57.
96 Assistance is generally available from legal bodies as to how solicitors should speak to schoolchildren. See: M Hayden, A Guide for Solicitors Addressing Groups of Students (1988) 13 Legal Services Bulletin 215.
97 R . Duncan (ed.) Legal Studies for New South Wales Years 11 and 12 (Sydney: Butterworths 1989) Butterworths also publishes texts for each State based on the syllabus in each State.
98 RM Duncan & D Roberts, Legal Studies for New South Wales, 2nd ed (Sydney: Butterworths, 1992).
99 CCH: S Churchman, M White & H Williams, Rights and Wrongs Legal Studies for Senior Students Volume 1 and Volume 2, 1992; M White & L Tan, Legal Studies Casebook, 1990; Landmark Series from 1980 (summaries of important High Court cases). Oxford University Press: E Ellis, J Goldring & C Diekman, Society Law and Justice Legal Studies for Senior Students, 1992. Longman Cheshire: M Parker and B Derwent, Justice Law and Society, Volume 1 and 2, 1991.
100 See: C Diekman, Legal Essentials Understanding Australian Law, (Sydney: Oxford University Press, 1991) B Pickworth and J Pickworth, Passing HSC Legal Studies: A Guide for Students and Teachers, (Sydney: Butterworths, 1991) D Roberts, Legal Studies A Teacher’s Guide, (Sydney: Butterworths, 1992) L Boyd, Resources Handbook: A Guide to Legal Studies for New South Wales, Years 11 and 12, (Sydney: Butterworths, 1989) B Brassil, Excel HSC Legal Studies, (Sydney: Pascal Press, 1992).
101 Committee for Postgraduate Studies in the Department of Law.
102 Only teachers in the Sydney metropolitan area can attend these evening lectures and meetings, so a large percentage of teachers are simply not able to enjoy the benefit of these classes. Both programs are fee paying programs.
103 Le Brun & Clark, supra note 3, at 231.
104 Id at 230.
105 Ibid.
106 E Magner, supra note 5, at 1.
... we are all teachers. I teach this material to the students who have enrolled for a law degree at The University of Sydney. My “class” is held in a lecture theatre that holds 300 ... it numbers 240 and my students intend to become lawyers and have achieved high TERs in order to get where they are .. you are teaching ... to ... groups no larger than 25. Your students are primarily being educated to be informed citizens, users rather than providers of legal services, and of course your students have a much wider range of abilities.”
107 Le Brun & Clark, supra note 3, at 217.
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