Training law students like athletes: experimenting with the constraints-led approach in law clinics

Jasper P. Sluijs*, Herman Kasper Gilissen, Karin (C.J.) van Look

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We studied to what extent insights from the “constraints-led approach” (CLA) in physical education can be applied to skills teaching for law students in preparation for law clinics. In the CLA, athletes are challenged to independently find optimal movement solutions in a dynamic setting, rather than responding to verbal cues in a fixed environment. Similarly, we designed and implemented two CLA training exercises in preparation for law clinics aimed at implicit acquisition of problem analysis skills. Our analysis of retrospective pre-test (RPT) data finds that after the training exercises participants are better able to structure a clinical problem statement, and report being better equipped to find and analyse the “real” problem of a client in a clinic. We conclude that the CLA is an effective method for skill acquisition training in preparation for clinical legal education.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)458-477
Number of pages20
JournalLaw Teacher
Volume57
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Funding

This project was supported by the Education Incentive Fund of the Utrecht University Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance [2019-2020].

FundersFunder number
Universiteit Utrecht

    Keywords

    • Skills teaching
    • law clinics
    • clinical legal education
    • constraints-led approach

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Training law students like athletes: experimenting with the constraints-led approach in law clinics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this