Catering for international law students in a new world

Abstract

The start of the pandemic in 2020 changed the way many of the law faculties in Australia operate. Faculties who solely taught their law degree face-to-face had to shift gears suddenly and move overnight their education to an online space. Additionally, new international law students found that they could not enter the country due to the border closures that lasted for over 18 months. Existing international students had to decide whether they wished to stay in Australia and be separated from their families or leave and continue their studies on schedules that could be incompatible with their time zones. While classes were delivered in an online environment, there was a wide variety in the quality of delivery depending on the technological skills of the academics involved. Furthermore, as both the material and the delivery were designed hastily, the content did not take into account the cultural diversity of learners nor cater for the needs of international students. Legal academics had little time to reflect on their offerings, and it resulted, in many cases, in the development of inauthentic and incomplete teaching practices. Almost three years since the start of the pandemic, our lives are now returning to some sort of normalcy. The passing of time has allowed for improvement in the technological skills of staff. It has also provided the academy an opportunity to reflect on the experiences and needs of international students – needs that were initially ignored, marginalised or misunderstood. Consequently, law faculties have developed different formats to help with the integration of the international law student cohort who had started their degree during the pandemic and not yet stepped on Australian soil. This has been achieved through reflection on teaching experiences and the initiation of a range of activities. The focus of this article is on the way law faculties have attempted this integration through the delivery of classes and additional support offered to international students.