Ken Schneyer wrote inter alia:
 
>However, this same bit of reasoning causes me to scoff at the
>notion of "measurable outcomes."  By definition, a process cannot
>be measured; the very word "outcome" suggests a result rather
>than a journey.  Someone, somewhere, needs to remind academics
>(especially bean-counting management types!) that some of the
>best things in life, and certainly some of the best things in
>education, do not contain "results" that can be measured!  This
>is a *verb* we're talking about, not a noun!
 
 
I could not agree with Ken more that education is a process. I would only
add that the root of the verb "to educate" is a derivative of "deuk-",
meaning **to pull, lead, draw (out)**! How it was ever twisted to connote
"putting in" is one of the great mysteries of Western civilization. But
think of the implications it has for the classroom when we realize that as
educators our job is to draw knowledge out of our students rather than
forcing it in. The former is a liberating experience for the student, the
latter is nothing more than indoctrination!
 
So, the process I try to engage in *with* my students is to help them
discover knowledge about the law by creating a classroom atmosphere that is
hospitable to allowing them to bring their own insights and experiences to
the task. This can get pretty messy without some structure, so the process
that I impose on them is, of course, the legal reasoning process (or,
critical thinking about the law to use Dawn's term). To do this in my legal
environment course, I devote a full 6 out of 14 weeks of the term guiding
students through statutory interpretation, as well as precedent- and
policy-based legal reasoning using a sampling of topics from across the
substantive law areas we will be covering later. The remaining time is used
to cover the substantive law issues entirely through class discussion and
small group collaborative-learning exercises with explicit use of rigorous
legal reasoning--no lecturing.  It is at the same time both liberating and
exhausting for me, but I have never experienced teaching as rewarding.
 
Yours in "drawing out",
 
Keith
 
Prof. Keith A. Maxwell                |  Voice:    206 756 3703
Legal and Ethical Studies in Business |  Fax:      206 756 3500
1500 N. Warner                        |  Internet: [log in to unmask]
University of Puget Sound             |---------------------------------------
Tacoma, WA 98416                      |  "Brevity is the soul of wit."
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