Best Practices for Legal Education

I have had the chance to learn about legal and professional education from some of the best.  I wanted to take this opportunity to share some related resources with readers of this blog.  Each of the resources here is free, and each amply rewards readers who need less than five minutes to scan for interesting and thought-provoking content.

Law School Vibe. A fairly new, thought-provoking blog is one called “law school vibe” developed as a team effort by colleagues at the University of New South Wales School of Law in Sydney, Australia.  During my research leave “down under” I learned a great deal from the smart and innovative educators there.  Here’s the address:  https://lawschoolvibe.wordpress.com/  It’s easy to subscribe and there are many excellent posts (by bloggers Alex Steel, Colin Picker, Justine Rogers, Pru Vines, and Carolyn Penfold among others.  Topics have included student collaboration, how to teach statutory interpretation, the role of “content for all,” new approaches to international education, ethical issues (Does “Just Call Saul” translate abroad?  How should academics deal with plagiarism?), and more.  Rather than simply providing information, this blog asks engaging questions that are worthy of reflection and conversation with colleagues.  Posts arrive to subscribers about every two weeks.  Make it a habit to read these engaging thoughts.

Tomorrow’s Professor.  The Tomorrow’s Professor is a wonderful listserv that typically arrives twice a week from Stanford University’s Engineering Professor Rick Reis.  Here’s the address for those who would like to subscribe:  https://tomprof.stanford.edu/ Billed as “online faculty development,” it definitely delivers the goods for all of us who are interested in higher education, not just junior faculty or those in the sciences.  Posts focus on teaching and learning, research, academic careers, the academy, and graduate students.  Most posts are drawn (with permission) from other sources so readers often have the benefit of a quick summary or chapter excerpt from literature they would likely not otherwise encounter.  Recent posts include coverage of “desirable difficulties,” “capstone courses,” academics as “public intellectuals,” and cross-cultural mentoring among other things.  In some ways the Best Practices blog seeks to create a similar resource for legal educators, but why stop there?  Enrich your reading and learn something from those with complementary expertise.

Inside Higher Education.  Inside Higher Education (available at https://www.insidehighered.com/ ) is a terrific resource for those interested in following trends affecting higher education more generally.  This on-line resource offers daily summaries of this on-line publication’s coverage of developments affecting higher education.  The focus is a bit different from the resources above, but coverage should appeal particularly to those interested in or currently serving in leadership positions.  Enticing recent posts include “how to kill committee meetings,” and that’s only the start.  Sign up for free daily news summaries.

How About You?  What are your favorite sources of insight about teaching and learning, or about changing patterns of higher education more generally?  Share them with our readers. If you have time before the semester gets too frantic, offer brief summaries of your favorite resources such as those included here.

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