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IM Live Session #4: Beyond The Paper Chase: Learning from Legal Pedagogy

In this session, Todd Rakoff facilitates a discussion of a short case he uses with his students on their first day of Law School, relying largely on Socratic questioning and cold calling to draw out participants’ thinking. Participants also watch a brief video of that HLS class in action.

After the teaching demonstration, Meira Levinson leads the group in a collective reflection on Todd’s instructional strategies and the implications for their own practice. (November 18, 2019)

Discussion Questions

  • Todd begins the teaching demonstration with a list of clear goals on the board. How do you communicate your lesson and course goals to students? How do you assess what they have learned?
  • Todd makes many different moves when leading students through Socratic questioning. Sometimes he engages with one student through multiple exchanges; sometimes he moves on fairly quickly; sometimes he provides a hint; sometimes he responds with his own thoughts. Why might he choose different moves when he does? How does watching him help you think about your own moves when facilitating discussion?
  • What does Rakoff teach us about both implicitly and explicitly preparing students for cold calling? How might you use the technique in your own classroom?
  • Meira encourages all participants present to consider what moves they might apply to their own teaching, no matter their discipline. What have you learned that you might use in your own teaching?