The teaching of law to non-lawyers: An exploration of some curriculum design challenges

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the role of outcomebased education, criteriareferenced assessment, and workintegrated education in the teaching of law to nonlaw students. The difficulties inherent in the use of such techniques in this particular context have not yet been thoroughly articulated or theorized because it is not clear what we want of our students: to think like lawyers, to do like lawyers, to be like lawyers – or none of the above. The paper proposes some answers. Design/methodology/approach – Discussion within the paper draws on theories articulated within the established literature relating to the issues under consideration. Findings – The paper reveals several gaps that need to be addressed by proposed empirical and longitudinal research projects to answer specific research questions. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the developing theory of teaching law to nonlaw students.