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THINKING, READING, PROBLEM-SOLVING NEXUS:
THE SMART CASUAL APPROACHKate Galloway, Bond University.
Mary Heath, Flinders University.Anne Hewitt, University of Adelaide.
Mark Israel, Adjunct Professor, Flinders University. Natalie Skead, University of Western Australia.
Alex Steel, University of New South Wales.Unless otherwise noted, content in this resource is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views in this project do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.
Professional development resources for sessional legal educators
Discipline-specific
Peer-to-peer model
Available freely online
Addressing identified national need
The modulesWellness
Communication & collaboration
Critical legal thinking
Reading law
Legal ethics & professional
responsibilityEngagement
Problem solving
Feedback
Indigenous Australians &
the law
Four themes embedded
Some intersections… Problem solving
Critical thinking
Reading law
Thinking skills – the TLOs
3a – identify, articulate legal
issues
3b – apply legal reasoning
solution
3c – critical thinking
6 – self management
‘Thinking like a lawyer’There’s no way I’d ever be a lawyer. All they ever do is
sit at their desks. All. Day. Long.
(Then) 16 year old daughter of two lawyers. Now a first year law student
‘Thinking like a lawyer’There’s no way I’d ever be a lawyer. All they ever do is
sit at their desks. All. Day. Long.
(Then) 16 year old daughter of two lawyers. Now a first year law student
How do we explain to students what goes on
inside lawyers’ heads? Can we explain it ourselves?
Module design choicesBreak down the
elements structure
Does this obscure what’s really going
on?
Design decisions
Expose elements to aid reflection; explanation to
students
Legal skills have become intuitive
Audience is experienced
lawyers
Thinking skills – micro and macro
Problem solvingReading lawCritical legal thinking
Reading law (micro)
Genre - purpose
Language
Critical approaches
Critical legal thinking (micro)Knowledge – cognition (Bloom’s)
Layers of thinking: text, contexts, metacognition
Thinking + dispositions
Iterative process that requires effort
Problem solving (micro)Structured approach
MIRAT (as an exemplar)
Use examples
Explain challenges students experience
Thinking like a lawyer…
The ‘onion’ diagramMetacognitive reflections
Social/theoretical analysis
Legal context analysis
Text context analysis
Text analysis
Emphasises the iterative approach; used across modules
What does this look like all together? (Macro)
Bloom’s cognitive objectives
Problem solving Reading law Critical legal thinking Thinkingmode
Knowledgeentry point
KnowledgeElements of law, authority
Meaning of legal terms
Elements of law, authority
Text
Comprehension
What facts are relevantWhich rules are relevant
Purpose of this text/genre; role of the text structure
What is provided for, what is lacking in this law?
Text context
Application
How does law apply to facts
Legal doctrine, processes that frame the text eg statutory interpretation; doctrine of precedent
What policy considerations have been brought to bear/omitted?
Legal context
Analysis
Broader theoretical/social context underpinning law/facts that might bear on the problem
What is the social context of this law, what theory supports/opposes it
How does this law stand against social or legal theory? What assumptions are embedded in law? What are the social implications?
Social/theoretical context
Synthesis
Propose a solution to the problem
Make a choice as between the layers of knowledge, to ascertain meaning of text
Proposal as to how the law might address a social/theoretical problem per selected critical frame
Text + contexts
Evaluation
What process have I adopted to reach this conclusion, is it limited & if so, how?
What reading techniques have I used here, and are they fit for purpose?
Where do I stand within this analysis – identity, emotions, bounded knowledge
Metacognitive reflection
How does the Smart Casual analysis help?
Smart Casual approach: thinkingThinking is complex
Tacit knowledge & processes
The experienced professional does it automatically
Teaching it requires reflection & the language and structures to explain it
http://www.lawteachnetwork.org/smartcasual.html @smartcasuallaw
Kate Galloway, Bond University.Mary Heath, Flinders University.Anne Hewitt, University of Adelaide. Mark Israel, Adjunct Professor, Flinders University. Natalie Skead, University of Western Australia. Alex Steel, University of New South Wales.