Teaching Law Teaching
by
Brian MacNamara

Doctors are taught how to diagnose, lawyers are taught how to argue, and actors are taught how to perform. Shouldn't law professors be taught how to teach? Law school instructors are charged with the awesome mandate of indoctrinating their students in the law and producing capable and competent graduates. Many -- if not most -- new professors, however, are ill prepared for the task.

Once appointed, the fledgling adjunct or assistant professor is, too often, sent into the fray without armor, weapons, or battle plan. The new law professor is expected to know how to teach either by divine guidance or by virtue of having spent many years on the other side of the lectern. An adjunct instructor's handbook, directions to the classroom, and a pat on the back are deemed sufficient.

Law schools can, and should, do better. Realizing that the recently minted instructors lack formal education in the skills necessary to perform adequately in the classroom, schools must implement in-house training and evaluation programs.

Prior to the start of each semester, the school should implement a short course for newly appointed instructors. This need not be an expensive or complicated endeavor. A series of seminars covering the spectrum of law teaching -- all the way from the basics of classroom instruction to more mundane considerations, such as how to order books -- should be delivered by appropriate faculty and administrative personnel. A solid footing in the basics of professional school instruction and administration would ease the transition from law student or practicing attorney to faculty member and would allow the instructors to approach their initial class assignments more effectively and more confidently.

The school should prepare written materials that adequately address more than just administrative concerns. Guidelines and suggestions regarding the conduct of classes and the use of visual aids and other instructional materials could be drafted to assist the new instructor in the preparation and delivery of lectures. Developing these guidelines and suggestions into an online manual for faculty members would allow for frequent updating and easy access.

One-on-one mentoring programs with a senior faculty member should be an integral part of the law school's commitment to developing the teaching abilities of inexperienced instructors. Mentors should be available on a regular basis to answer questions, review class performance, and offer suggestions. Frequent interaction with a senior faculty member not only serves to enhance the junior member's teaching abilities but also fosters a sense of academic camaraderie important to the nurturing of the budding professor. This is particularly important for adjuncts who, because of their part-time status, often feel alienated from the full-time faculty.

A series of mandatory seminars should be instituted to explore various teaching techniques. Many colleges already employ these better-teaching seminars to a limited degree. Unfortunately, they are often underutilized. Attendance should not be optional. Even senior faculty members can benefit from learning new techniques. Two years ago I had no idea how to use Blackboard as a teaching tool; now online teaching is an integral part of every course I conduct.

Classroom evaluation by faculty members and students has long been a staple of teacher evaluation. Unfortunately, the standard practices of once-a-semester evaluation by a senior faculty member or once-a-semester evaluation by the class completing pre-printed evaluation forms does little to either assess the professor's abilities or assist him or her in becoming more effective in the classroom.

Junior faculty should be evaluated on a more frequent basis. Different senior professors should attend various classes, unannounced, throughout the semester. Every effort should be made to accomplish some evaluations early in the semester. Discovering and correcting an annoying mannerism or ineffective presentation technique early would benefit the instructor and students alike.

Technology should be used to its fullest extent. Videotaping and recording classes would allow instructors to review their performance with more experienced professors. Actually seeing and hearing oneself is an effective tool that has been used successfully in teaching trial advocacy, acting, and public speaking. It would be no less effective in teaching the art of teaching. Scant attention is paid to effective delivery. Yet anyone who has sat through an hour-long lecture delivered by a stationary speaker in monotone without visual aids knows how quickly the mind starts to wander and the words fall on deaf ears.

Student evaluations, in their current form, are almost worthless to professors seeking to improve their teaching skills. Because students fill out the evaluations toward the end of the semester and the forms are submitted directly to the administration, the professor doesn't even get to review the class evaluations until after the class is completed. It is singularly unhelpful to find out halfway through the semester that the students in the back of the class can't hear you or that you speak too fast.

Students should be afforded an opportunity to anonymously submit evaluations and suggestions on an ongoing basis. This could easily be accomplished online. It would be easy to set up a system whereby students could complete an evaluation/suggestion form online that would then be sent by e-mail to an administrative server. The comments would then be forwarded to the appropriate instructor. Such a system would protect student anonymity and afford the professor real-time input into his classroom performance, thereby enabling him to address any problems immediately.

That good teachers are born and not made is a commonly believed truism without foundation. The same used to be claimed about trial lawyers, actors, and athletes. While no one would dispute that certain innate attributes enhance an individual's capacity to excel in a given endeavor, basic skills can be taught to the masses. Law school teaching is no different. There are certainly those exceptional professors who have a feel for the classroom and are exciting, effective teachers without the benefit of formal instruction. Many with lesser natural ability, however, can become capable instructors -- able to conduct interesting, informative, and thought-provoking classroom experiences for their students -- with a modicum of guidance.