ERIC Number: EJ1267564
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0818-8068
EISSN: N/A
The Challenge for Law Schools of Satisfying Multiple Masters
Thornton, Margaret
Australian Universities' Review, v62 n2 p5-13 2020
University law schools have been beset with a sense of schizophrenia ever since first established in the 19th century. They were unsure as to whether they were free to teach and research in the same way as the humanities or whether they were constrained by the presuppositions of legal practice. More recently, this tension has been overshadowed by the impact of the neoliberal turn and disinvestment by the state in higher education. Ironically, as government has provided less money to universities, it has arrogated to itself increased control over teaching standards and research productivity. At the same time, the mastery of the legal profession continues to be exercised through the specification of 11 subjects required for admission to legal practice, known as the 'Priestley 11'. Drawing on Foucault's idea of the self as a kind of enterprise, it is argued that law students have also assumed an element of mastery over what is taught and how it is taught. It is suggested that all elements of mastery are imbricated with one another so as to reify enterprise and capital accumulation within the neoliberal economy. [This article was presented at 'Satisfying Many Masters: Teaching into Professional Degrees in Law and Engineering in the 21st Century', University of Southern Queensland, September 30, 2019.]
Descriptors: Law Schools, Legal Education (Professions), Law Students, Neoliberalism, Foreign Countries, Federal Government, Government Role, Universities, College Instruction, Research, Educational Change, Student Role, College Admission, Admission Criteria, Theory Practice Relationship
National Tertiary Education Union. PO Box 1323, South Melbourne 3205, Australia. Tel: +61-3-92541910; Fax: +61-3-92541915; e-mail: editor@aur.org.au; Web site: http://www.aur.org.au
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A