An examination of the effectiveness of Readers’ Theatre as a teaching strategy in legal education

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of the case method of legal education in preparing for the practice of law has been questioned for more than a century. Students are encouraged to conceive conflict in a manner that often does not provide adequate context for the application of their personal perceptions of justice. A resulting criticism of the case method, then, is that it fails to adequately teach students how to act “with ethical substance” in the professional circumstances for which they are being prepared. As a means of addressing this perceived gap, North American law schools have been increasing their use of experiential education methods. In this paper, the utility of Readers’ Theatre (RT) is examined as an experiential teaching strategy to expose law students to the interpersonal and ethical dynamics of legal problem-solving communications.     

Designing and Using Simulations in the International Relations Classroom

The value of simulations in the classroom is well established, and there are numerous publications that feature specific role-play exercises that can readily be introduced into the classroom. Frequently, however, instructors would like to design their own simulations to fit their specific learning objectives for a class, but don’t know where to start. This article lays out a series of structural and design questions for instructors to consider in order to craft their own simulations. We recognize that there is no singularly “best” way to design simulations, so this article focuses on the key components of simulations and explores different possibilities for each of these components depending on the desired goals of the instructor. We begin with the basics of class size, topic selection, learning objectives, length, and timing. Next, we discuss the design parameters—including the nature of student interaction, desired output, background information, role-specific instructions, and a timeline for the phases of the simulation. We move on to considerations about the actual running of the simulation, and wrap up with reflections on debriefing, grading, and assessment. By stepping through the design questions that are summarized in the Appendix, any instructor, experienced or new to role-playing, can develop a custom simulation to help meet the learning objectives for their courses.     

Learning at the Edges: Participatory Action Research and Child Maltreatment in Post‐War Guatemala

This article focuses on the effect of Participatory Action Research (PAR) on changing parents’ disciplinary practices and galvanising community organisation in Guatemala City. The article analyses PAR with reference to Carr and Kemmis’s threefold typology. The project involved a transition from a technical model, in which participant actors investigate a subject proposed by the lead researcher, through a practical stage, in which participants and lead researcher interact on an equal basis, to participant‐led action that has a critical intent.     

On the Postcapitalist Nature of Learning Spaces

This paper uses the concept of learning spaces to reflect on the pedagogies that will help humans acquire the wisdom to support a transition to a durable postcapitalist socioeconomy. Since Plato’s Academy dedicated “academic” spaces have been set aside from economic life. While humans naturally learn all the time, access to higher status learning remains restricted. Most learning is informal and outside academic spaces. An example is given from a novel published more than 100 years ago of an unpromising workplace becoming a space for deep learning about socialist resistance. I will suggest that all spaces occupied by humans at every scale from the room to the globe, and not just those of formal education, are learning spaces. The question is how they can be linked up to form a global space of exchange that could be called a learning society or, alternatively, postcapitalism, socialism, communism, or the society of associated producers. The ideas outlined here were presented in a module on Geographies of Education that I designed and taught at the University of Brighton until my recent retirement.     

Pedagogy of regulation: Strategies and instruments to supervise learning from adverse events

Diverse scholars have argued that standards and performance measurements are “instruments of control” that have a profound influence on the day‐to‐day lives of individuals and organizations, causing constitutive effects. Regulatory bodies increasingly use standards to oversee and monitor the regulated. This paper discusses the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate's use of both standards and a performance measurement system introduced to monitor how Dutch hospitals investigate and learn from serious adverse events. Rather than focusing on how standards affect regulated practices and organizations, our study examines how the use of these instruments affects the standard maker, that is, the Inspectorate. We explore how the Inspectorate's work practices, standards, and coupled performance measurement system influence its regulatory pedagogy, reviewing practices, and decisionmaking. We conclude that standards and performance measurement systems are not by definition “instruments of control” as their constitutive effects are (under)determined by the relationships in which they are enacted.     

Mega-Simulations in Negotiation Teaching: Extraordinary Investments with Extraordinary Benefits

A mega-simulation is a complex-negotiations teaching exercise involving complicated issues and challenging conditions that is undertaken by three or more teams of students. In this article, I draw on two decades of teaching with mega-simulations in international business negotiation courses to discuss potential learning goals for this type of experiential exercise, effective ways to organize the experience, challenges for the instructor, and the distinctive educational benefits that justify the substantial investment of time and resources required to implement these mega-simulations. These simulations can help students to develop greater sophistication in basic negotiation skills, become more extensively exposed to complex skill sets, and develop a deeper understanding of negotiation subject matter and complex processes than they would by conducting standard role plays. Mega-simulations offer major opportunities for students to move to advanced levels of negotiation skill not just in international business, but in diplomacy, law, engineering, and a host of other professional arenas.     

深化马克思主义政治经济学教学改革的思考

深化马克思主义政治经济学教学改革的关键在于必须切实改革教学内容与改进教学方法.改革教学内容,坚持马克思主义政治经济学的基本原理,重视理论联系实际的环节,对西方经济学理论采取应借鉴和吸收的态度.改进教学方法,应重视开展讨论式教学,重视开展实践性教学,重视引入案例式教学,重视应用多媒体教学手段.     

多元文化下的澳洲社区警务

作为一个典型的移民国家 ,澳大利亚的多元文化带来了诸多挑战与机遇 ,它给警务工作的冲击也是极其巨大的。澳洲警方推行社区警务 ,适时地采取“邻里守望”、“扩大服务面”、“加强警民联络与反馈”等措施 ,不仅为澳洲人民创造了安定的生活 ,而且也为世界各国警务建设带来启迪与借鉴。     

Justifying grounds for multicultural policies in Korea: universal human rights versus benefits of diversity

Multicultural policies often deviate from the principle of equal opportunity since it assumes exclusive policy target groups with extra budget and appropriate organization. If this is so, by what rationale can multicultural policies be justified? Why should we accept such unequal treatment as a procedural method to achieve a more equal society as the final goal? This paper examines justifying logic for multicultural policies that inevitably have an arbitrary aspect of state intervention. This paper first differentiates two kinds of logic, namely universal human rights and the benefits of diversity, which provide supporting rationale for the implementation of multicultural policies. We can witness from the US history that the benefits of diversity have increasingly become the main logic justifying affirmative action instead of liberal discussions on social justice and universal human rights of the 1960s. Korea also shows such a shift towards a utilitarian justification which has focused heavily on the benefits of diversity. However, the utilitarian rationalization for multicultural transition can be easily withdrawn when the benefits of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity disappear, suddenly leading to unexpected discriminatory situations. In this context, this paper argues that discussion of normative justification is required, and such discussions need to be internalized among the citizens of a political community.