The changing nature of legal education Associate Professor Natalie Skead and Professor Erika Techera The University of Western Australia
The winds of change are blowing in the direction of legal education, not only in terms of the students themselves, but also the expectations and pressures placed upon them as they exit university. Law Schools need to be prepared and brace themselves if they are to remain standing. THE CHANGING LAW STUDENT The past decade has seen a rapid rise in the number of law schools in Australian Universities, with the number now standing at 39; two non-university providers also offer accredited law degrees. In Western Australia, the number of Universities offering an accredited professional law degree has almost doubled since 2005 with Curtin University the most recent entrant in 2012. This increase in law schools has necessarily resulted in greater accessibility to a legal education for those with an interest in studying law. No longer is the study of law available only to the privileged few. As noted by Israel, Skead and Heath et al, while the stereotypical Australian law student "from decades past" may have been "white, English speaking from a metropolitan area, a recent graduate from an elite private high school, studying full-time in one of the eight 'sandstone' researchintensive universities, and with existing links to the legal profession",1 this is no longer the case. Increasingly Australian law students are representative of a more socially, culturally and ethnically diverse Australia.2 This changing demographic – and perhaps the resultant benefits of a more inclusive, broader and, therefore, more meaningful legal education – is reflected in the expanding entry pathways into professional law degrees in the Group of Eight3 universities. Graduate Access Melbourne, for example, is a special entry and access scheme for those wishing to gain entry into postgraduate study, including into the Juris Doctor (JD) and
whose particular circumstances may have affected their academic performance in previous tertiary studies.4 Similarly, the University of Western Australia Law School (UWALS) introduced an Equity and Diversity Pathway into the JD in 2015. This pathway stipulates lower entry requirements for applicants holding, or who have held, a refugee or humanitarian visa, or who have "experienced significant personal, medical, social, educational, cultural or financial disadvantage or hardship, including any disadvantage or hardship resulting from an applicant's sexual orientation or gender identity".5 THE ROLE OF LAW SCHOOLS Beyond just providing access via alternative entry pathways, law schools have a responsibility to respond to and support their more diverse student cohorts in a variety of ways. Mentoring and support Ensuring the success of students in an increasingly diverse cohort requires law schools to recognise the particular needs of different students and then to provide support mechanisms that cater to those needs. For example, international students may need English language support. While this is commonly provided for at an institutional level, law schools might provide addition support for these students, for example, by allowing them to take a dictionary into an examination. Students who experience financial difficulties and are self-supporting may not be able to afford prescribed or recommended resources. Law schools can assist by establishing a book loan scheme.6 A range of more general academic support programmes should also be made available, particularly for those students who enter the professional law degree via an alternative pathway and who may therefore need assistance in establishing an effective and healthy study regime. A student who is, for instance, the first member of their family to study at university may not have family members to turn to for guidance. In this
sense additional pastoral care may be needed. This can be university-, Faculty-, or student-led, and is likely to provide improved outcomes for the broader student cohort.7 Mentoring schemes matching students with mentors at appropriate points in their law studies can also assist in improving the students' law school experience and their academic success. This may range from an internal academic mentor in early years to an external professional mentor towards the end of the degree. In this state, current programmes include the Law Society's Young Lawyers Committee Law Student Mentoring Programme8 and the Women in Law Mentoring Scheme run by UWA's Blackstone Society.9 Nikolas James examines the benefits of a mentoring programme that "matches law students with legal professionals who are available to support the students in their journey through law school and their transition to professional practice".10 The benefits identified by James include: gaining an "insight into law and its operation in practice"; getting "support and guidance when making study and career choices"; having "a role model" and "professional networking opportunities"; and having access to an expert to "discuss discipline knowledge".11 Classroom interactions Israel, Skead and Heath et al have written recently on the importance of legal academics attending to increased law student diversity at the micro level in the law classroom by adopting learning and teaching strategies that celebrate difference and signal inclusion of all.12 If the legal academy is to provide a legal education that is effective, meaningful and appropriate for all students, it is critical that law teachers not only recognise the changing demographics of their students but that they respond to those changes in their teaching practices and interactions with students. A diverse academy Central to an appropriate and effective response to the increase in law student diversity is law schools taking steps 33