Designing a Law degree: The cultural construction of a narrative

Holistic approaches to course design are recognised as beneficial to students learning, presenting accessible disciplinary academic literacies and threshold concepts (Gourlay, 2009), and transformative metalearning approaches (Meyer et al, 2010). A shift away from outcome based legal education is similarly presented as desirable (Cownie, 2004). This paper is presented at the initial stages of an investigation into the existence of holistic ‘narratives’ in undergraduate law course design, and the influences that create those narratives.

Despite much of the content of law degrees being prescribed historically, these degrees often present distinctive recognisable identities, evident in presentations to validation panels, marketing, or as emanating from the identity of the Law School or the academics within it. The potential impact of the current shifting regulatory framework, reflected on as more burdensome than liberating (Mason & Guth, 2018), presents a pertinent point at which to consider what influences, paradigms, or values, emanating from professional identities, institutions, the discipline, or the profession, have a part to play in the design of undergraduate law degrees.

This paper presents the initial thoughts around a longer-term research project which investigates the relationship between the narratives behind the presentation of undergraduate courses in law, and the cultural construction that has led to those narratives (Bercher & Trowler, 2001). The paper will discuss the significance of the narratives beyond the design and marketing of the programmes, and the influences at work that create them or are evident in them.