Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:20:47.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Developing Active Learning of Skills in Professional Legal Education in Hong Kong — From Theory to Ethnography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2015

Wilson W.S. Chow ,
Richard W.S. Wu  and
Felix W.H. Chan
Wilson W.S. Chow
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
Richard W.S. Wu
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
Felix W.H. Chan
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In Hong Kong, the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws is the normal prerequisite for practice. Following a comprehensive review in 2001, the programme was redesigned to emphasize problem-oriented learning and skills-based training. This discussion explains the principal features of the current curriculum and how it has worked out in practice. It calls for a systematic collection and study of feedback on the current programme, and announces a plan for that purpose.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Comparative Law , Volume 1 , 2006 , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Trainee Solicitor Rules (LHK Cap 159 sub leg J), Rule 7.

2 Barristers (Qualification for Admission and Pupillage) Rules (LHK Cap 159 sub leg AC), Rule 4.

3 The Steering Committee on the Review of Legal Education and Training in Hong Kong, Report of the Consultants, Legal Education and Training in Hong Kong: Preliminary Review (Hong Kong: The Steering Committee on the Review of Legal Education and Training in Hong Kong, 2001)Google Scholar.

4 RLET, p. 200.

5 RLET, pp. 201-202.

6 RLET, pp. 193-194.

7 RLET, p. 185.

8 RLET, p. 538.

9 RLET, p. 358.

10 As recommended by the RLET in relation to the proposed LPC, p. 358.

11 The Law Society of Hong Kong's Position Paper on Legal Education and Training, September 2001, online: http://www.hklawsoc.org.hk/pub_e/news/submissions.asp (25 April 2006).

12 RLET, p. 429.

13 The General Council of the Bar Validation Steering Committee, Application Procedure To Be Validated To Offer The Bar Vocational Course, Course Specification Guidelines, London, 29 September 1995, p. 4.

14 French, J. and Rhoder, C., Teaching Thinking Skills: Theory and Practice (New York: Garland Publishing, 1992), p.152–153 Google Scholar.

15 Soden, R., Teaching Problem Solving in Vocational Education (London: Routledge, 1994), pp. 33–44 Google Scholar.

16 See Glaser, R., “Education and Thinking: the Role of Knowledge” (1984) 39 American Psychologist 93 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17 Simon, H. A., “Problem Solving and Education” in Tuma, D. T. and Reif, F. (eds), Problem Solving and Education: Issues in Teaching and Research (New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 1980), pp. 81–96 Google Scholar.

18 Perkins, D. N. and Salomon, G., “Are Cognitive Skills Context-Bound?” (1989) Jan-Feb Educational Researcher 16, 23 Google Scholar.

19 Bigge, M. L. and Shermis, S. S., Learning Theories for Teachers (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 5th ed, 1992), p. 218 Google Scholar.

20 Stevenson, J. C., “Cognitive Structures for the Teaching of Adaptability in Vocational Education” in Evans, G. (ed), Learning and Teaching Cognitive Skills (Australia: The Australian Council for Education Research Limited, 1991), pp. 144–163, 150Google Scholar.

21 Trail, W. R. and Underwood, W. D., “The Decline of Professional Legal Training and a Proposal for Its Revitalization in Professional Law Schools” (1996) Baylor Law Review 201, 227 Google Scholar.

22 Judd, C. H., Educational Psychology (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1939), pp. 500, 509 Google Scholar.

23 See RLET, Appendix F, pp. 395-405.

24 Blasi, Gary, “Teaching Lawyering as an Intellectual Project” (1996) 14 The Journal of Professional Legal Education 6566 Google Scholar.

25 Barrows, H. and Tamblyn, R., Problem-Based Learning: An Approach to Medical Education (New York: Springer, 1980) at 191 Google Scholar.

26 RLET, p. 179.

27 For a historical account of gradual adoption of a “skill-based” educational philosophy by the professional education courses in Britain from 1970 to 1990, see Saunders, N., “From Cramming to Skills - The Development of Solicitors' Education and Training Since Ormrod” (1996) 30 The Law Teacher, pp. 168–186 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 For an evaluation of the Legal Skills Movement in England, see Macfarlane, J., “The Legal Skills Movement Ten Years On: Triumph or Compromise” (1997) 24 Journal of Law and Society 440 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

29 For an overview of skill training in common law countries prior to 1990s, see Gullickson, S. G., “The Evolution of Skills Training” (1985) 3 Journal of Professional Legal Education 161 Google Scholar.

30 For example, the Legal Practice Course at Nottingham Law School, England use skills guides in their teaching. For more details on use of “skill guides” in that course, see Slorach, S. and Nathanson, S., “Design and Build The Legal Practice Course at Nottingham Law School” (1996) 30 The Law Teacher 187 at 196 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 This argument is supported by research in the discipline of education. See Ramsden, P., Learning to Teach in Higher Education (London: Routledge, 1992) 148 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 Feedback is widely recognised as an important component of professional educational courses in other common law countries. See, Slorach, S. and Knott, P., “The Development of Skills Teaching and Assessment on the English Legal Practice Course - A Nottingham Law School Perspective” (1998) Vol. 14 (2) Journal of Professional Legal Education 189, 192 Google Scholar.

33 The abilities to communicate effectively and work cooperatively are generally regarded as “interpersonal skills” that lawyers should learn and acquire in their professional legal education. See The Law Society of England and Wales, Training Tomorrow's Solicitors (London: Law Society, 1990) 11 Google Scholar.

34 The Law Society of Hong Kong, Benchmarks for the PCLL, 23 April 2002, available on authors' file.

35 The Hong Kong Bar Association, The Bar's Submission to the Academic Board on PCLL Curriculum Reform, 27 March 2002, available on authors' file.

37 Gold, N., “Professional Legal Education For Tomorrow's Lawyers: The Evolution of the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong” (1991) Vol. 9 (1), Journal of Professional Legal Education 45, at 53 Google Scholar.

38 Ibid, at 47.

39 RLET, p. 162.

40 For more details of the design of the Commercial Law and Practice course, and survey of students' responses to the course, see Nathanson, N., “Developing Legal Problem-solving Skills” (1994) Vol. 44 (2), Journal of Legal Education, 215, at 220–231 Google Scholar.

41 Wilkinson, M., Updates on the PCLL Reform, Faculty of Law Newsletter (2004 Spring), p. 3–4 Google Scholar.

42 Gill, J. and Johnson, P., “Enthnography: Its Origins and Practice” in Research Methods for Managers 43 (2nd ed), p. 97 Google Scholar.

43 Gill, J. and Johnson, P., “Issues in Ethnographic Research” in Research Methods for Managers (2nd ed), p. 113 Google Scholar.

44 Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (1995) Ethnography: Principles in Practice (2nd ed)Google Scholar; Hannabus, S. (2000), “Being there: ethnographic research and autobiography”, Library Management, Vol. 21 (2), pp. 99–106 Google Scholar; Glesne, C. and Peshkin, A. (1992) Becoming Qualitative Researchers: An Introduction Google Scholar; Kahn, R.L. and Cannell, C.F. (1967), The dynamics of interviewing: Theory, Technique and Cases Google Scholar; Shaffer, D., Gordon, J. and Bennett, N. (2004), “Learning, Testing, and the Evaluation of Learning Environments in Medicine: Global Performance Assessment in Medical Education”, Interactive Learning Environments, Vol. 12 (2), pp. 167–178 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.