New directions in legal education: Moving beyond the socratic tradition

Over the past century, not much has changed in the field of legal education. Several hypotheses have emerged as a result of considerable advancements in education at the same period. The five major philosophies of education—connectivism, humanism, constructivism, cognitivism, and behaviorism—will be examined in the sections that follow. These will all be compared to the Socratic Method, which is the main teaching strategy used in law schools. It will be highlighted how the Socratic Method contains other theories and provides specific examples of how some of these theories have manifested in legal education. Additionally, the impact of technology on legal education will be discussed. This article's main objective is to demonstrate how these theories can be put to use in law schools to create highly competent graduates who will increase the effectiveness of the field as a whole. The ideas presented in this paper will be further illustrated by anecdotes from law schools in North America and Africa.