Preparation and participation

There is, nevertheless, some unease about the no-response rule shared by teachers and students alike. The key is preparation. In the United State law schools this is no problem. There is tremendous competition to gain entry and perform well. The entrants to law school are all graduates with excellent academic qualifications. The pressure to perform well is absent from New Zealand law schools because there is no competition for places. New Zealand students enter law school at 17 or 18 faced with engaging in disciplines never before encountered. Salient claims these students are 'apathetic' because they feel 're-pressed.' This is nonsense. Many law students do as little work as possible Academic excellence is not a goal for many. Socratic method can only work when students are prepared and participate in class. The skills developed by the method are considered vital to the practice and teaching of law. Those skills cannot be taught by straight lecturing. So long as competition is lacking, compulsion is necessary if efficient use is to be made of the time available. Compulsion also means that students are less able to plagiarise the ideas of others. As Mr Thomas recognises, a volunteer method lets the non-thinkers just sit there while the others do the work. Equity demands equal preparation and participation. Case method also enables teachers to know their students and their abilities. This a clear advantage to teacher and students.

McBride states "The aim is not oppress students merely for the sake of it" The implication is twofold. Firstly there is the suggestion that case-method does "oppress." Secondly, there is the suggestion that such oppression is intentional. Neither suggestion can be substantiated. The second is an allegation of teaching malpractice which is unwarranted and unfair. The first is also unwarranted. Law students feeling oppressed have failed to make any representation to the faculty or to their elected representatives. They are, of course, volunteers in that they are free to enter or leave law school as they please Just as a science student is required to learn skills by attending laboratory practicals so too is a law student required to attend classes so as to learn skills necessary for a lawyer - both academic and practical.

Geoff Harley