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Make Failure Flattering:  Embracing Classroom Struggles, Creating Real World Successes

Make Failure Flattering: Embracing Classroom Struggles, Creating Real World Successes

By Maj Wolfgang S. Weber, U.S. Air Force Academy[1], Assistant Professor Of Law

To all my students, past, present, and future, please forgive me, I have something I need to get off my chest:  I enjoy seeing you fail in the classroom.   

Well, at least initially. 

As educators, we constantly reflect upon how we can make our class an academic journey worth taking. Sure, we could lecture till we’re blue in the face; but is that really as effective (or fun) as an interactive effort that helps students recognize their own strengths and weaknesses within the material?

When I first began teaching, I meticulously walked my students through every single lesson, “If you have a question please don’t hesitate to stop me and ask!” I never wanted to leave a rock unturned; I never wanted to leave the class with lingering inquiries. I would spend countless hours thinking about exactly what I would say each lesson. I felt a need to tell them everything.

Before long, however, I quickly came to two realizations:  1) even though I was covering all the material, they weren’t fully processing it; and 2) I was boring.  

I was failing. But as you may guess, I’m glad I did.

From my own classroom failures, I reflected deeply on my deficiencies as an educator. I thought about everything I was doing step by step. I spoke at length with my more seasoned colleagues. Soon, it became clear – I was robbing my students of the opportunity to fail. 

Failure is undoubtedly one of life’s best teachers. As we can all likely attest, many of our most profitable educational lessons, both in and out of the classroom, come from failure. Even the most gifted toddler will certainly fall before she learns to walk. In an academic setting, nothing speaks quite as loudly as unmasking a student’s own deficiencies. Of course, this is far easier said than done. In Tony Wagner’s book, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World, Wagner points out that many traditional academic settings penalize students for failure and discourage them to take risk. Thus, as educators, creating an academic environment that teaches students through failure can be an uphill battle. 

The best solution? We must give them permission to fail.

In all my classes, I am constantly thinking about new ways to allow my students to experience failure. In my law class, throughout the semester every student is assigned the task of creating and presenting a different hypothetical legal scenario that they must then teach the class to analyze. In my negotiations class, at some point each student must negotiate with a classmate while the rest of the class observes. In both instances, I make it a point to not teach the students the applicable material beforehand.

On the day of, the students hesitantly make their way to the front of the classroom – visibly nervous about doing or saying something incorrectly in front of their peers; but before a word ever leaves a student’s mouth, I provide a preface to the class: 

Before Sidney and Graham begin, I want to quickly tell them both … ‘thank you.’ While each of them will undoubtedly do some things correctly, they will almost certainly also do some things incorrectly … they will fail. And that’s okay. While we learn in many different ways, one of the best ways to improve is learning from our failures. The Wright brothers didn’t build a flying plane on their first attempt, and none of us, including me, are likely to conduct perfect legal analysis on our first go.  

But the important thing is that we all have the courage to make that first attempt, and that we all are open-minded, tactful, and considerate in our criticisms. Let’s thrive together from an academic environment that lauds mistakes and embraces growth. Graham, Sidney – thank you both for being vulnerable in front of all of us today and giving us this chance to learn … please proceed.

As the students proceed, the class watches eagerly. By the end of the exhibition, I ask the students to take a seat, often receiving applause from their classmates without prompting. Then, I unapologetically ask the entire class the tough questions:  What did they do right? What did they do wrong, where did they fail? What could they have done better?

On most occasions, the students burst into an array of discussion, both complimenting and critiquing their peers with little reluctance; while their peers themselves anxiously receive the feedback, often following up with further questions about their own shortfalls. From there, I jump into the academic lesson, teaching the material while interweaving it with the student presentation and subsequent dialogue.

Over years of teaching through this method, the results have remained consistent: Nine times out of ten, students fail miserably during these exhibitions. Fall flat on their face. But then, the consequent transition transforms them as they ponder all the hidden lessons that did not initially come to mind. Lightbulbs start flashing above their heads as we discuss the new material. And by the end of the class, they’re smiling. They love it. Within an hour, they have gone from defeat to success. They have experienced growth before their very eyes and they’re better for it. By the end of the semester, student feedback repeatedly reiterates these exercises as class favorites.

ather than lecturing at them, consider creating an environment in which students can readily experience and reflect on their academic weaknesses safely. Set them up for failure in the classroom. Make it an ethos in your classroom by giving them permission to fail. You may find that the only thing more enjoyable … is knowing you prepared them for real world success. 

Back to Basics: Teaching Constitutional Law through Content Review

Back to Basics: Teaching Constitutional Law through Content Review

By Allison E. Butler  CSULB – College of Business, USC Gould School of Law

Exhibit A: Comparative Chart: U.S. And Italian Constitutional Provisions

Co-Authors: Allison E. Butler, JD and Laura Fabiano in collaboration with Fulbright Award 2019.  Allison E. Butler worked with Laura Fabiano with reference to the Italian/U.S. Comparative Constitutional Law.

  1. Introduction

Instructing constitutional law can be challenging given the broad scope of its content. Notably, the U.S. Constitution not only provides the federal government structure but also provides for numerous enumerated rights and guaranteed personal freedoms. While most instruction in law school is through case law, most students have little idea as to the actual structure and content of this document. This article provides a different approach by requiring students to obtain and assemble a U.S. Constitutional booklet, which is subsequently reviewed in a classroom. This exercise enables learners to recognize and find constitutional citations and provide an overall understanding of the contents of this vital historical document.

  1. The U.S. Constitution
  2. Examining the Booklet

The first requirement for this process is to mandate that students download and assemble a free U.S. Constitutional booklet.[1] One day, preferably in the beginning of the course, should be dedicated to reviewing the relevant constitutional provisions prior to actual case law studies. To provide a background on the subject and to begin the instruction, two optional videos can be viewed 1) British Library’s What is the Magna Carta[2] and 2) the History Channel’s The United States Gets a Constitution.[3] While there are numerous other clips, these links are highly effective in refreshing students’ knowledge and providing international students with a general background on the adoption of the document. This review technique can also be facilitated for a comparative or international law class with the students obtaining two constitutions and comparing the two. For example, see comparative chart of the Italian and U.S. Constitutions, set forth in Exhibit A.

  1. Articles and Amendments

While a review of the applicable provision is subjective, it is necessary to begin with a review of the federal government structure beginning with Article I – Legislative Branch of the Constitution. While discussion on the different legislative branch may be warranted, Section 8 of Article I provides the enumerated rights specifically designated to Congress, which with reference to business law includes, but not limited to, the following:

  • Commerce clause to discuss state powers. [4]
  • Copyright and patent clause to discuss intellectual property.[5]
  • Coinage clause for possible discussion on cryptocurrencies.[6]
  • Creation of inferior courts to discuss the federal court system. [7]

Section 10 of Article I provides for a brief discussion on freedom of contract that invokes examination of this clause as well as the substantive due process clause, including discussion on the Lochner Era, in which the U.S. Supreme Court continuously struck down numerous state statutes.[8]

Thereafter, Article II is discussed with focus on the Executive Powers. The primary objective here is the executive power to appoint “[j]udges of the supreme Court and all other Officers of the United States” with advice and consent of the Senate;[9] however, this section also provides discussion on current topics ranging from State of the Union to impeachment proceedings. Lastly, Article III establishes the Supreme Court and the judges therein. With the establishment of the three branches of government, students are directed to Article VI, Clause 2, discussing the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Upon establishing the main content of the constitution, the Bill of Rights is examined, starting with the following:

  • Establishment Clause[10]
  • Freedom of Speech[11]
  • Search and Seizure[12]
  • Warrants[13]
  • Due process clause – federal[14]
  • Taking Clause[15]
  • Privacy[16]
  • State Powers[17]

These discussions also include a reference to amendments and how they apply to the Constitution leading to the adoption of the 14th and 15th amendment after the U. S. Civil War. The 14th amendment discusses how the due process clause incorporated many of the bill of rights as applicable to the state government as well as the equal protection clause. The 15th amendment illustrates race suffrage and its application solely to the male population but the adoption of the 19th amendment provides for sex suffrage.  Another provision worth discussing is the 28th Amendment, prohibition, and its relation to the 21st amendment repealing the prohibition of the transportation or importation of intoxicating liquors.  Lastly, discussion of the 26th Amendment provides age suffrage.

After full discussion on the various provisions and applicable case law, the pamphlets can be collected and returned to the students on the day of the exam, which is essentially an “open constitutional exam.” Sample questions can range from what articles establish the Supreme Court to what clauses provide for substantive due process. Moreover, questions can be of multiple-choice, essay, or short answer depending on the mandate of the overall course.

III. Conclusion

This type of constitutional review provides students with a broader perspective of this instrument of government. Learners learn to navigate the pages while observing the language adopted by courts such as “probable cause” or “supremacy clause,” observing that these phrases are nor fabrication of the courts but language of the constitution itself.  This learning technique provides the students with a solid base to begin further examination through case study.

EXHIBIT A

COMPARATIVE CHART: U.S. AND ITALIAN CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

Constitutional Provision United States Italy
Year 1787 1947
Legislature Article I Parte II – Titolo I – sezioni I e II (artt. 55 -82)
Executive Article II Parte II – Titolo III –Sezione I (artt. 92-96)
Judicial Article III Parte II – Titolo IV Sezioni I e II (artt. 101-113) ;

Judicial Review – Constitutional Court: Parte II, Titolo VI sezione I (artt. 134-137)

Supremacy Clause Article VI Art. 5
Reservation of State or Regional Rights Tenth Amendment Art. 117 ( more in general on regionalism: Parte II Titolo V artt. 114-133)
Freedom of Contract Article I, Section 10; Due Process of Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Art. 41
Freedom of Religion First Amendment Art. 7 ; art.19
Freedom of Speech First Amendment Art. 21
Right to Privacy ·        The First Amendment; Third Amendment;

·        Fourth Amendment; Fifth Amendment;

Ninth Amendment.

The right to privacy is most often cited in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment

Artt.13-15
Due Process – Procedure Fifth  Amendment (Federal); Fourteenth  Amendment (State) Artt.24-27;

Artt. 111-113

Due Process – Substantive Fifth Amendment (Federal); Fourteenth Amendment incorporates application to the States of Fundamental Rights Art. 2;

Parte I , Titoli I-II-III-IV (art. 13-54)

Taking Clause Fifth Amendment Artt.42-44
Voting Rights Fifteenth, Nineteenth and Twenty-sixth Amendment require that voting rights cannot be abridged on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age for those above 18. Parte I, Titolo IV (art.48-54)

Copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.

[1] See https://constitutionbooklet.com/ for free download and instructions.

[2] See, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xo4tUMdAMw

[3] See, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1YLoO9sHvI

[4]  Article I, Section 8, Clause 3.

[5] U.S. Const., Article I, Section 8, Clause 8.

[6] U.S. Const., Article I, Section 8, Clause 5.

[7] U.S. Const., Article I, Section 8, Clause 9.

[8]  U.S. Lochner Era wherein development of economic due process (14th and 5th Amendments) [1897-1937]; see also,  Arruňada, Benito and Veneta Andonova, Common Law and Civil Law as Pro-Market Adaptations, 26 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 81 (2008); for recent case law on contract clause see, Sveen v. Melin, 584 U.S. ___, 138 S. Ct., 1815 (2018).

[9] U.S. Const., Article II, Section 2, Clause 2.

[10] U.S. Const., amend. I

[11] Id.

[12] U.S. Const., amend. IV

[13] Id.

[14] U.S. Const., amend. V

[15] Id.

[16] U.S. Const., amends., I, III, IV, IX and X

[17] U.S. Const. amend. X

Institute for Law Teaching and Learning