Paul L. Caron
Dean





Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Demonstrating Civility: A Law School Learning Outcome

Laurel Rigertas (Northern Illinois), Demonstrating Civility: A Law School Learning Outcome, 112 Ky. L.J. 413 (2023-2024): 

Kentucky law journalThere have been calls over the years for law schools to teach their students civility. At least twenty-seven law schools have answered that call and adopted “civility” as a learning outcome. Their learning outcomes have two general approaches—having students understand civility or having students demonstrate or exhibit civility. This article takes the position that the skill of demonstrating civility is the better learning outcome. Civility helps the legal system function and future lawyers will have a key role in continuing to improve that system. 

However, this learning outcome comes with challenges given the lack of a precise definition of civility combined with different reasons—both emotional and strategic—that may cause incivility. This article gives law schools tools to teach their students how to demonstrate civility including a working definition of civility, an overview of psychological research regarding the causes of incivility that can inform law school pedagogy, and strategies for incorporating and assessing law students’ demonstration of civility throughout the law school curriculum. By drawing upon scholarship from the fields of psychology and professional identity formation, the goal of this article is to give more law schools confidence to adopt demonstrating civility as a learning outcome, despite its challenges. The times call for such a commitment.

Editor's Note:  If you would like to receive a daily email with links to legal education posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2024/11/demonstrating-civility-a-law-school-learning-outcome.html

Legal Ed Scholarship, Legal Education, Scholarship | Permalink