Teaching Teachers about Law: A Guide to Law-Related Teacher Education Programs. Working Notes 11.

Overview & Synopsis

The purpose of this book is to provide teachers with an idea of the range of teacher education possibilities in the field of legal education and to suggest means of constructing programs to meet the needs of individual communities. Law-related education seeks to improve the citizenship skills of American youngsters by helping them learn about the law, legal processes, and the legal system. Seventeen articles written by various authors describe legal education programs throughout the United States and suggest practical tips on the many aspects of teacher education which can achieve this goal. The book begins with an article suggesting methods for determining what various segments of the community think law-related education should encompass. Articles in the next section raise some general questions including building community support, selecting participants, and developing a schedule. The role of law-related instruction in elementary schools is considered in the following section. The next section contains eleven articles which describe a variety of approaches to law-related education. The approaches range from simple awareness sessions to intensive summer workshops. Each article in the book provides the address and phone number of the program being described. The final section contains suggestions for following up teacher education programs. A list of additional resources concludes the book. (Author/JR)