1. Law
Law in Professional Contexts:
Adding legal literacy and teaching high
performance teamwork to non-law students
Mr Lloyd England LLM
Student Experience Manager & Teaching Associate
Monash Law Faculty
lloyd.england@monash.edu
OVPLT Learning Lunch Boxes,
Monash University, Clayton Campus, 29 May 2014

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Today
1. What?
2. Why?
3. How?
4. Where?
5. When?

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1. What?
Imagine a class…

4. 1. What?
‘Interdisciplinary Legal Perspectives’ was born
Renamed…
Law in Professional Contexts
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5. Law in Professional Contexts
 Not just ‘Profession X in Legal Context’ e.g. ‘Teaching / Medicine in
Legal Context’
 It is that and does do that, but then adds other Interdisciplinary
Professional Contexts for holistic breadth
 Doctrinal Law can thus be seen operating in a variety of Professional
Contexts, illuminating it from more interdisciplinary legal perspectives
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6. 2. Why?
Nature abhors a Vacuum…
 Legal Maxim ‘Law does not operate in a vacuum’ i.e. it’s all about
context
 Audience Question: Please name a Profession or Industry (or any facet
of human nature or endeavour for that matter) which operates in a
Legal Vacuum?
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7. 2. Why?
A Tasmanian coroner has found a Latrobe High School student was
not being supervised by teachers when he drowned on a school
excursion.
Coroner Rod Chandler has handed down his findings in the death of Rene
Levi, 15, who drowned during a swimming trip to Bells Parade at Latrobe
in 2009.
Mr Chandler told a packed Magistrates Court in Devonport that the
student was not being observed by teachers and the actions of the senior
teacher, Tim Jolly, had contributed to the death.
Mr Jolly had taken responsibility for supervising four students who were
swimming and he had failed to discharge that responsibility.
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8. Google ‘school trips drowning’ 28.05.14
 Inquest into school trip drowning opened
 Safety watchdog blames teacher for boy's drowning on
 Teacher Fired, Others Disciplined Over Field-Trip Drowning
 Brooklyn boy, 16, drowns during class trip to Bear Mountain
 1.1 Million Settlement in School Trip Drowning Case
 CIS teacher, others face criminal case over drowning of 2
 Teachers slapped with criminal raps for drowning
 Triple Drowning at a Leadership Retreat :: The Redwoods
 Court Awards Half Million Compo Over Drowning KV Death
 Teachers fail to notice drowning boy
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9. 2. Why else? (not just legal literacy / wellbeing)
 Innovation
 Collaboration
 Licensing
 Research & Development
 Distribution
 Agency
 Commercialization
 ‘Improving the human condition by advancing knowledge’ – Monash
University Vision
 Morality / Ethics / Health and Wellbeing of Monash Students
 Graduate Attributes – Employability!
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10. 3. How?
 Teach Doctrinal Legal Concepts in Weekly Lecture 1
 Students assigned to Groups (inter or intra-discipline?)
 Students research impact of Doctrine on their Profession
 Students report back Weekly in Lecture 2 (public speaking practice)
Magic (first bit)
Content and learning is bespoke
to students’ discipline / interests;
‘Just in time, Just for me’
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11. 3. How?
 Explicitly Teaching ‘Teamwork’ to ensure high performing
Teams – both generating quality work outputs and
experientially
 Employability! Students hate Group Work due to oxymoron
of ‘dysfunctional team’ experiences
 Without instruction, no surprise Teams are not high
performing – a significant disservice to our students
 Significant shortfall of current teaching and learning
practices; post graduation nearly all work performed in
teams (in Law faculty, ‘plagiarism paranoia’ dictates a
distinctly solo and isolating tertiary learning experience)
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12. 3.How?
 Group Work Product Outputs – assessed – making it real!
 Agreed acceptable behaviors
 Boundaries and Clear Expectations
 Consequences
 Self Management and Leadership
 Genuinely work-ready, skilled graduates
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13. 4. Where?
 S15 – State of the Art Teaching space - great for Group Presentations
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14. 5. When?
 Semester 2 2014
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15. Thank you - Any Questions?
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