At the Edge of Law: Emergent and Divergent Models of Legal Professionalism

This paper reports on a study that examined the culture and identity of the legal academic as a practising teacher. The study is based on three law teachers working at a prominent South African university. By using an ethnographic design type, data was collected through observation during class visits, discussion about teaching in interviews, and a review of teaching-related documents. The research revealed that the primary professional identity of the participants is rooted in the traditions of law as an academic discipline. The participants characterise themselves as teachers and not as legal practitioners. Not only do they choose to teach, but they actively regard teaching as their true vocation. As core to the nature of their teacher identities, the participants express a significant emotional dimension shaped by their relationships with students.