We are pleased to inaugurate the series with an article by Professor Paul Maharg, Manchester Metropolitan University, entitled ‘Teaching ≈ Learning ≈ Regulation’, in which he reflects on his own journey in law and offers interdisciplinary insights and valuable lessons.
In the second article in this series, Dr Kryss Macleod, Manchester Metropolitan University, in her contribution ‘Teaching law inside complexity: immanent pedagogy and the possibility of becoming’, argues that the ‘double bind’ of teaching law – meeting external requirements while resisting their constraints – can be overcome by learning to live with contradiction and finding ‘small plots of new land’ to work in.
In the third article in the series, 'Education, education, education', Professor Fiona Cownie stresses the importance of legal educators having a theoretical framework and philosophy of education, reflecting on how her own teaching practice has been informed by the theory of social constructivism. Considering the aims of and common approaches to legal education in the multicultural world in which artificial intelligence is gaining prominence, she advocates for ‘cultivating humanity’ in law students.
In the fourth article in the series, 'Teaching as a connected community practice: Connecting Legal Education and the value of learning from each other', Dr Arwen Joyce (University of Leicester), Dr Verona Ní Drisceoil (University of Sussex), Professor Lydia Bleasdale (University of Leeds) and Professor Michael Doherty (Lancaster University) highlight the importance of connection in the legal academy, illustrated by the work of Connecting Legal Education (CLE), a virtual, international network of legal educators and practitioners established in 2020. As a community of practice committed to effective learning and support, CLE fosters a sense of belonging and mattering, and offers not only opportunities for vicarious learning and mutual support, but also a space for connection and joy.
In the fifth contribution to the series, in his article 'On teaching: some (very) personal reflections', Professor Anthony Bradney, Keele University, reflects on the structure and functioning of legal education, drawing on his 49 years of academic experience. He raises fundamental questions about financing a law school, the role of students and their relationship with the university, and law academics' approaches to their teaching, concluding that, since contentious choices are inevitably open to criticism, academics should simply 'follow [their] arrow'.