Legal Education for Non-Lawyers as ‘Legal First Aid’: A Participatory Inquiry into Law for Social Work Students

Abstract

The article documents the experience of the authors in creating and re-calibrating a compulsory legal module within a Bachelor of Social Work degree as a course in ‘legal first aid’. The article explores the pedagogical approach the authors developed, which is based on continually explaining to students the reason for studying law in a way that is tailored to skills they can use in their practical placements and profession. For social work students, the ‘legal first aid’ approach enabled them to develop confidence and skills in triaging the seriousness of particular situations, understanding what they can do in the short term, and knowing how and when to usefully engage with legal professionals. The article also illustrates the value of a participatory inquiry method when refining course aims and approaches. The article details the participatory inquiry undertaken by the students and teachers with the aim of improving future iterations of the course. The rich insights that can be obtained from a participatory inquiry method offered much more robust insights than mainstream course evaluation methods, providing clear direction for future course refinements. These insights may be useful to course coordinators of other programs who are wishing to design or redesign course content.