Education

1. The School UN Volunteers-
India
We follow the ten principles of UNITED NATIONS
My Dear Students | Let’s reflect
on the classroom teaching
experience; has it lost its value?
'Are we making teaching and
learning better and more

2. enjoyable?' asks Nuggehalli.
'Why do we need classes on
jurisprudence?
My dear students,
Today I want to give you some
idea of what I have been telling
my students about the value of
classroom teaching. We are
packing you like sardines in
cans for hours on end; at the
very least we must reflect a bit
on what you and I, teachers
and students, are getting out of
it. I don’t mean I get a salary
and you get a job at the end of

3. it. I mean to ask if we are
making teaching and learning
better and more enjoyable or
are we just sticking to
something that has outlived its
value. I am teaching legal
philosophy this term. This is
what I am telling my students.
There are some references
below that are specific to legal
philosophy but I don’t think that
will come in the way of your
reading
Welcome to jurisprudence. I
suppose we must begin by
asking why do we need classes

4. on jurisprudence? You can get
your readings from the internet.
You have talking heads on
YouTube and Instagram
delivering lectures on
jurisprudence. Why do you
need to sit in a collective
physical space and why do you
need me? If we don’t answer
this question, we will not utilise
our time properly in this term.
You need me because the texts
will not speak for themselves. I
won’t be doing my job unless
you come out of the class with
some insights into the texts you

5. did not have before you
entered the class. This is the
challenge for me: to try to get
you to think about things you
wouldn’t have thought of if you
were left alone with the texts.
Hopefully I can get you to think
about the text from different
viewpoints, point out what the
author is trying to get at, how
that fits into the rest of the
literature, how it adds to the
existing state of knowledge,
how you might want to agree
and disagree with it, and why
it’s interesting enough to

6. warrant your attention and
mine.
You don’t need only me though.
You need each other. This is an
even bigger problem than
convincing you that you need
me. I find that many of you
have very little faith in your
ability to contribute to class
discussions. Perhaps it’s
because you think you haven’t
prepared enough or read
enough. But, at least in
jurisprudence, you will be made
to do plenty of reading in the
class. At that time, please have

7. some faith in yourself and in
your friends that you will come
up with insights that will
invigorate the discussion in the
class. You will understand
what’s been taught better
because you will build on each
other’s insights. Is this so hard
to believe? Will it help if I tell
you that in previous batches
this has worked very well, that
students who were seemingly
diffident came out with
perspectives and thoughts that
helped everyone—me, their

8. friends and themselves —
navigate jurisprudence better.
You still don’t believe
classroom discussions add
value? Let’s take the example of
just the last two classes. I asked
you to look at the Speluncean
Explorers case and tell me what
the judges thought of the
nature of the law and the
relationship between law and
morality. Some of you
answered that if authority is the
essence of the law, then
necessarily morality can’t play
a role in identifying legal

9. propositions, because we need
to maintain the sanctity of
authority. Some others in the
class said that it is precisely
because authority is integral to
law that people who apply law,
such as judges, use moral
principles while applying the
law. The actual solution to this
issue is not important right
now, it’s just that I really liked
the way many of you
responded to the issues. You
were thinking through the
problem and you were using
the classroom as it was meant
to be used; as a forum for

10. shaping thoughts, debating
different points of view, and
working with and off each other
to arrive at insights you
probably won’t get on your
own.
The most boring thing you can
do is just sit tight and listen only
to me. There is a certain point
of time after which I find it
difficult to listen to myself and
so I have no hope that you will
listen to me for more than a
few minutes if I start on a
soliloquy. Here’s what I would
like you to do. Keep aside your

11. previous years in law school.
Perhaps you lost interest in
some of your classes or you
have gotten used to your more
garrulous classmates
intervening in the class
discussions all the time. Let’s
make a fresh start. You start
listening to me and to each
other. You have nothing to lose.
You might even gain
something. At the very least,
you won’t be bored.

12. We follow the ten principles of UNITED
NATIONS