The Australian Federal Government has today added a further massive variable (aka thrown a hand grenade) into the calculations the sector is trying to make around fee income/student numbers for the next three years. We are still short on critical details, but the main points are, broadly: a substantial re-packaging of the variable fee regime […]
The question of what we can expect university and specifically legal education to look like after July has certainly been playing on my mind (and plenty of others!). This is obviously becoming a pressing issue, not just in terms of the proximity of semester 2, but also in the context of what seem to be […]
Universities so far have struggled with the difficult and rapidly changing risk environment since the emergence of Covid-19. Responses have been variable in speed and intensity across institutions and jurisdictions, often reflecting the uncertainties fed down from government policy (or lack thereof). Information is patchy, but my sense is that teaching now in virtually all […]
Sometimes the gods of happy coincidence smile down on us as law teachers. This last week I have been working with my Legal Theory students on rights and freedom, and on Thursday Judge Richard Posner handed down the (unanimous) decision of the US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit in Baskin v Bogan, striking down legislative […]
GTI Media, the publishers of the Targetjobs websites, have completed their 2012 trainee and law student surveys. The results can be found here. Results for the trainee survey are derived from an online survey completed by 206 trainee solicitors working at a ‘variety’ of law firms. Headline findings include: Just over 70% agreed that the […]
Publication of the first round of UCAS figures brings news of an overall fall of 11.9% in home applications to university compared with this time last year. That won’t come as a great surprise to many doomsayers in the wake of the Government’s carve-up of higher education (a process which was of course commenced by […]
For the students amongst you, or anyone thinking about a career in law, have a look at the excellent post by blawger Tim Bratton, General Counsel at the FT. Westminster and Warwick – two universities I’ve worked in, are very different law schools, but their students have tended to share the same aspiration for corporate […]
UKCLE recently ‘premiered’ its film on the future(s) of legal education at our Learning in Law Annual Conference in January. The premiere was certainly popular enough to generate a good turn out at the end of a longish day, and was followed by a lively plenary discussion the next morning. I’ve also shown the film […]
1. Include course and behaviour norms and expectations for students and teachers in course and module handbooks. This is obviously easier to achieve if staff are prepared to agree AND ENFORCE a consistent ‘policy’ across a programme or department. Potentially disruptive students may play on mixed and inconsistent messages. 2. Discuss these norms and expectations […]
Non-academics tend to be surprised when they hear university teachers complaining about a growing number of ‘disruptive’ students. “Surely not”, they exclaim, “these are people who choose to be there, and are paying for the privilege, why would they want to disrupt classes?” A good question. I’m not sure just how new or widespread a […]
hEaD space 