#  Todd Rakoff 

 



##  Todd Rakoff 

**Byrne Professor of Administrative Law**  
**Harvard Law School**

Todd Rakoff, formerly the Dean of the J.D. Program, has been actively involved in many of Harvard Law School’s educational experiments and reforms in the last quarter century. He rethinks classic law school pedagogies such as Socratic questioning, cold-calling, and case method teaching to create energetic, challenging learning environments for his students. Many of these techniques are applicable in other contexts. In this video, Todd and his students describe the context of his featured *Legislation and Regulation* course and discuss his teaching style.



 

 

 

       ![bg](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/instructionalmoves/files/rakoff-edit-2.jpg?itok=exz1HcjU) 

 

 



 

 



 



 

 

 



 

 

 

  [### Asking questions that probe for deeper understanding

 ](/asking-questions-probe-deeper-understanding) 

   ![Todd Rakoff describing his teaching practice](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.1.3.jpg?itok=59FQJlpJ) 

 



 

 

   [### Considering other perspectives through role plays

 ](/considering-other-perspectives-through-role-plays) 

   ![Professor Rakoff teaching in calss](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.2.5.jpg?itok=ifG8TM13) 

 



 

 

   [### Encouraging students to respond to each other

 ](/encouraging-students-respond-each-other) 

   ![A student responds to another student in class](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.5.jpg?itok=vx95pAw2) 

 



 

 

   [### Expanding participation through cold-calling

 ](/expanding-participation-through-cold-calling) 

   ![Professor Rakoff lecturing in front of students](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.2.3.jpg?itok=oxg3BBQq) 

 



 

 

   [### Getting students thinking and engaging through small-group discussion

 ](/getting-students-thinking-and-engaging-through-small-group-discussion) 

   ![Students conversing in small groups](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.1.5.jpg?itok=Ps60zzt2) 

 



 

 

   [### Pressing students for accuracy and expanded reasoning

 ](/pressing-students-accuracy-and-expanded-reasoning) 

   ![Professor Rakoff teaching in class](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.1.jpg?itok=P-ydvafz) 

 



 

 

  

 

 

 

 

## Full Class Session

Watch the full class session featured in this instructor’s move videos to observe and reflect on teaching practices as they unfold. Click below to find a breakdown of all the class activities, with accompanying timestamps and descriptions. The video is also chaptered according to featured instructional moves, allowing you to see how these vignettes fit into the larger context of the session.

[Class Activity Breakdown](/file_url/840)



 



 

 

 



 

 

 

##  Course Documents 

 



 book 

 [### Legislation and Regulation Syllabus

 ](/resource/legislationandregulationsyllabusfall2016pdf) 

 

 insert\_drive\_file 

 [### Legislation and Regulation Class Session Handout

 ](/resource/featuredclasssessionhandoutpdf)