AIMS OF LEGAL EDUCATION

AIMS OF LEGAL EDUCATION

Legal education generally has a number of theoretical and practical aims, not all of which are pursued simultaneously. The emphasis placed on various objectives differs from period to period, place to place, and even teacher to teacher. One aim is to make the student familiar with legal concepts and institutions and with characteristic modes of legal reasoning. Students also become acquainted with the processes of making law, settling disputes, and regulating the legal profession, and they must study the structure of government and the organization of courts of law, including the system of appeals and other adjudicating bodies.

Another aim of legal education is the understanding of law in its social, economic, political, and scientific contexts. Prior to the late 20th century, Anglo-American legal education was less interdisciplinary than that of continental Europe. With the development of a more or less scientific approach to social studies since the late 20th century, however, this has been changing. Some American law schools appoint economists, historians, political scientists, or sociologists to their staffs, while most permit their students to take courses outside the law school as part of their work toward a degree. Continental legal education tends to be highly interdisciplinary, if more abstract and doctrinal than its American counterpart, with nonlegal subjects compulsory for students taking their first degree in law.

Traditionally, legal education has included the study of legal history, which was once regarded as an essential part of any educated lawyer's training. Although economics is increasingly popular as a tool for understanding law, much legal history is nonetheless taught in the context of the general law curriculum. Since the corpus of the law is a constantly evolving collection of rules and principles, many teachers consider it necessary to trace the development of the branch of law they are discussing. In civil-law countries, where most parts of the law are codified, it is not generally thought necessary to cover topics that antedate the codes themselves. On the other hand, in countries that have a common-law system, knowledge of the law has traditionally depended to a great extent on the study of the court decisions and statutes out of which common law evolved.

Even in jurisdictions that require four or five years of law study (as in Japan and India), the graduating law student is not expected to have studied the whole body of substantive law but is, however, typically expected to be familiar with the general principles of the main branches of law. To this end, certain subjects are regarded as basic: constitutional law, governing the major organs of state; the law of contract, governing obligations entered into by agreement; the law of tort (or delict in civil-law systems), governing compensation for personal injury and damage to property, income, or reputation; the law of real (or immovable) property (see property law), governing transactions with land; criminal law, governing punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, and prevention of offenses against the public order; and corporation (or company) law, governing the leading form that economic actors take in modern society. The materials studied are largely the same everywhere: codes (where these exist), reports of court decisions, legislation, government and other public reports, institutional books (in civil-law countries), textbooks, and articles in learned periodicals. The aim is not so much that the students should remember “the law” as that they should understand basic concepts and methods and become sufficiently familiar with a law library to carry out the necessary research on any legal problems that may come their way.

INTRODUCTION OF LEGAL EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION OF LEGAL EDUCATION
Legal education, preparation for the practice of law. Instruction in law has been offered in universities since medieval times, but, since the advent of university-based law schools in the 18th and 19th centuries, legal education has faced the challenge of reconciling its aim of teaching law as one of the academic disciplines with its goal of preparing persons to become members of a profession. Most law schools have tried to find a middle path between being a mere trade school and being a citadel of pure theory. Unfortunately, the criticism is sometimes made that these efforts result in a type of education that is not practical enough to be genuinely useful in resolving day-to-day legal problems but yet not as rigorously theoretical as a truly academic discipline ought to be.

CORRESPONDENCE EDUCATION

CORRESPONDENCE EDUCATION
Correspondence education is the method of providing education for nonresident students, primarily adults, who receive lessons and exercises through the mails or some other device and, upon completion, return them for analysis, criticism, and grading. Correspondence education is extensively used by business and industry in training programs, by men and women in the armed forces, and by the governments of many nations as part of their educational program. Correspondence education supplements other forms of education and makes independent study programs readily available.

The correspondence movement evolved in the mid-19th century, fuelled by the need for an educated trade and working class brought on by industrial and urban development, and facilitated by the development of improved printing and postal services. Correspondence courses were first offered in Great Britain, Germany, and the United States but spread rapidly throughout the world.

Originally correspondence courses were largely confined to vocational subjects; now, however, private correspondence schools, industry, government agencies, and universities offer such courses in virtually any field from the elementary school to the postgraduate level. Many of the subjects are not generally given in residence schools: camera repair, horology (clock-making and repair), floristry, locksmithing, gemology, and safety, for example.

Instruction may be wholly by correspondence or by a combination of home study and resident seminars or laboratory work. Correspondence education may include sound records or tapes, slides, films, videotapes or videodisks, teaching machines, computers, and the use of telephone, radio (including a two-way radio with each student using a transceiver, as in the Australian outback), and television. In the late 20th century the advent of electronic mail (correspondence delivered by means of electronic printing or display devices) is expected to increase the speed of response to student work.

Courses often include kits of tools or instruments and materials to be processed, as well as texts and study guides. Courses in Braille and on records or cassettes are available for the visually handicapped.

Many schools offer guidance and placement services, though the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in 1981 cracked down on some schools for implying more in the way of future employability or placement help than they actually delivered. Programs sponsored by schools and other public agencies often include special provisions for periodic home visits by teachers, occasional student get-togethers at local centres, or series of short-term residential school sessions for school-age children, as in New Zealand, or for discussion groups or study circles, as in Romania.

PAROCHIAL EDUCATION

Parochial education is education offered institutionally by a religious group. In the United States, parochial education refers to the schooling obtained in elementary and secondary schools that are maintained by Roman Catholic parishes, Protestant churches, or Jewish organizations; that are separate from the public school systems; and that provide instruction based on sectarian principles.

Roman Catholic parochial schools in the United States are organized on a diocesan basis and are supported principally by voluntary offerings from the parishioners and by tuition. The administration of the schools of a diocese is the direct responsibility of the bishop. This work is usually delegated to a priest appointed by the bishop, who is given the title of superintendent of schools or secretary for education. Most dioceses have a school board made up of members appointed by the bishop. Usually this board has no administrative power but acts in an advisory capacity to the bishop and his chief school officer.

The Roman Catholic schools teach the same subjects as the public schools, but two important differences should be noted. In the Roman Catholic curriculum, a course in Christian doctrine is included that presents the matters of faith and morals that are the teachings of the Roman Catholic church. Other courses, particularly in such areas as the social studies and humanities, are often given a Roman Catholic orientation.

Diocesan systems are often organized on a statewide or regional basis in order to share certain educational advantages and to exchange ideas and programs for the betterment of their teachers and schools. All diocesan systems are members of the National Catholic Educational Association.

Among Protestant groups that maintain parochial school systems in the United States, the Lutheran bodies are by far the most active, with around 190,000 children in Lutheran schools. Smaller school systems are sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventists, the National Union of the Christian Schools, the Protestant Episcopal Church, the National Association of Christian Schools (evangelical), and the Quakers, Mennonites, Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians.

The administration of most Protestant schools is in the hands of a board of education elected by the sponsoring group—either individual congregation, association of congregations, or association of individuals. This board selects a principal and in cooperation with him develops the policies that control the school program.

The teachers in Protestant schools are drawn from denominational teachers colleges and liberal arts colleges. Special training in Bible and doctrine is required, in addition to the general requirements set for teachers at the elementary and secondary levels. While the course of study for each grade in Protestant schools is substantially the same as that offered in the public schools, Christianity is made a unifying and integrating factor in the educational program.

The Jewish day school or “complete” school (i.e., the Jewish parochial school) in the United States is an educational institution in which a combined program of Jewish and general studies is offered. There are four types of institutions that provide intensive Jewish religious education as well as a complete course of study in general subject matter. The Talmudic day school makes provision for the study of the Hebrew texts of the Pentateuch and major portions of the Prophets and Scriptures, including the Masoretic commentaries, and places great stress on teaching of the Talmud. The secular studies meet the requirements of the city and state authorities. The modern day school stresses the study of Hebrew language, the Bible, Jewish history, prayers, and selected portions from the Talmud. All instruction is in the Hebrew language, with the secular subjects generally being given equal attention and equal time. The integrated day school aims to achieve a blending of instruction in Judaism and secular subjects, while the Hebrew-English private school emphasizes the study of general subjects and provides opportunities for Jewish learning for only five hours a week.

The majority of day schools (85 percent) are sponsored by Orthodox groups. Some that fall in the category of modern day schools are conducted by Conservative and other groups. Day schools operated by Yiddish culture groups include Yiddish language and literature among the basic subjects of instruction.

The two principal national organizations for the support of Jewish education are Torah Umesorah (National Society for Hebrew Day Schools) and the National Council for Torah Education.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Vocational Education is an instruction in skills necessary for persons who are preparing to enter the labor force or who need training or retraining in the technology of their occupation.

The impact of technology on occupations, the tendency of employers to set higher educational requirements, and the need for employees with specialized training have made vocational preparation imperative. Part-time programs are essential in order to provide occupational mobility among workers and to overcome the effects of job obsolescence.

In the U.S., vocational education programs are conducted in public secondary schools and community colleges and are financed in part by federal funds. Other programs are conducted by business and industry, labor organizations, the armed forces, and private vocational-technical schools. Programs in both public and private institutions are general in scope, providing training for several jobs in an occupational cluster; programs conducted by business, industry, and the armed forces usually focus on particular interests. Under the Vocational Education Amendments (1968), vocational programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

TEACHER EDUCATION

TEACHER EDUCATION

Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community.

Teacher education is often divided into:

• initial teacher training / education (a pre-service course before entering the classroom as a fully responsible teacher);

• induction (the process of providing training and support during the first few years of teaching or the first year in a particular school);

• teacher development or continuing professional development (CPD) (an in-service process for practicing teachers).

The process of mentoring is also relevant.

There is a longstanding and ongoing debate about the most appropriate term to describe these activities. The term 'teacher training' (which may give the impression that the activity involves training staff to undertake relatively routine tasks) seems to be losing ground to 'teacher education' (with its connotation of preparing staff for a professional role as a reflective practitioner.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

TECHNICAL EDUCATION
Technical Education is an instruction in a skill or procedure, usually of a mechanical type, and at a level between that of the professional scientist or engineer and that of a skilled craftsperson. Technicians support scientists and engineers by designing, developing, producing, and maintaining machines and materials. The work of a technician is more limited in scope than that of a scientist or engineer and is commonly considered practical rather than theoretical in its orientation.

In industry, jobs for technicians range from those that are narrow in scope and require relatively limited technical understanding, such as the routine inspection of parts, to those that require a considerable level of mathematical, scientific, and applied technological ability, such as engineering aide, instrumentation technician, draftsperson and tool designer. The growing field of computer technology is providing many new employment opportunities for technicians.