Storytelling: a five-tier framework and the flipped classroom approach

ABSTRACTStorytelling is a popular teaching method in legal education. Despite that popularity, research on designing and delivering this method to support different learning outcomes in legal education is limited. Thus, it is the purpose of this article to build a pedagogical framework of storytelling based on current teaching practices. Conventional pedagogy has identified three storytelling approaches: (1) to help students understand legal concepts; (2) to help students learn and remember the theories and techniques about storytelling; and (3) to teach students how to tell their clients’ stories. Based on the analysis of case studies reported by law teachers, this article argues that there are at least two more storytelling approaches. This article aims to classify these storytelling approaches in a five-tier framework. Furthermore, it proposes that applying the flipped classroom method to storytelling helps law teachers teach towards learning outcomes more efficiently and effectively than the conventional approaches.KEYWORDS: Storytellingflipped classroomlearning outcomesteaching method Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Notes1 Jo A Tyler and Faith Mullen, “Telling Tales in School: Storytelling for Self-Reflection and Pedagogical Improvement in Clinical Legal Education” (2011) 18 Clinical Law Review 283, 295; Stefan H Krieger and Serge A Martinez, “A Tale of Election Day 2008: Teaching Storytelling through Repeated Experiences” (2010) 16 Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute 117; Nancy Levit, “Legal Storytelling: The Theory and the Practice – Reflective Writing across the Curriculum” (2009) 15 Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute 253, 255. Cf J Christopher Rideout, “Applied Legal Storytelling: An Updated Bibliography” (2021) 18 JALWD 221, 224: the bibliography lists articles on Applied Legal Storytelling from 2007 to 2020.2 Ruth Anne Robbins, “An Introduction to Applied Storytelling and to This Symposium” (2008) 14 Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute 3, 12. Cf the qualitative and action research conducted by Tyler and Mullen (n 1) on clinical legal education.3 Cf Donna M Steslow and Carolyn Gardner, “More than One Way to Tell a Story: Integrating Storytelling into Your Law Course” (2011) 28 Journal of Legal Studies Education 249, 258; Kristen E Murray, “Persuasion: An Updated Bibliography” (2021) 18 Legal Communication and Rhetoric: JALWD 205.4 Anthony G Amsterdam and Jerome Bruner, “On Narrative” in Minding the Law (Harvard University Press 2000) 110. Cf Peter Brooks and Paul Gewirtz (eds), Law’s Stories: Narrative and Rhetoric in the Law (Yale UP 1998); James Boyd White, The Legal Imagination (45th anniversary edn 2018, Aspen 1985); Michael Hanne and Robert Weisberg, Narrative and Metaphor in the Law (Cambridge UP 2018).5 Krieger and Martinez (n 1) 146.6 Kate Green, Hilary Lim and Jeremy Roche, “The Indeterminate Province: Storytelling in Legal Theory and Legal Education” (1994) 28 The Law Teacher 128, 130.7 Carolyn Grose, “Storytelling across the Curriculum: From Margin to Center, from Clinic to Classroom” (2010) 7 Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors 37, 41.8 Roy Stuckey and others, Best Practices for Legal Education: A Vision and a Road Map (Clinical Legal Education Association 2007) 117; Paul L Caron and Rafael Gely, “Taking Back the Law School Classroom: Using Technology to Foster Active Student Learning” (2004) 54 Journal of Legal Education 551.9 Stuckey and others (n 8) 118.10 Cf Lutz-Christian Wolff and Jenny Chan, Flipped Classrooms for Legal Education (Springer Singapore 2016); William R Slomanson, ”At the Lectern: Blended Learning: A Flipped Classroom Experiment” (2014) 64 Journal of Legal Education 93, 95, 100; Angela Upchurch, “Optimizing the Law School Classroom through the ‘Flipped’ Classroom Model” (2013) 20 The Law Teacher 58; Katharine T Schaffzin, “Learning Outcomes in a Flipped Classroom: A Comparison of Civil Procedure II Test Scores between Students in a Traditional Class and a Flipped Class” (2016) 46 University of Memphis Law Review 661, 687–88; Martin H Malin and Deborah I Ginsberg, ”At the Lectern: Flipping the Classroom to Teach Workplace ADR in an Intensive Environment” (2018) 67 Journal of Legal Education 615, 616–17; Laurel E Davis, Mary Ann Neary and Susan E Vaughn, “Teaching Advanced Legal Research in a Flipped Classroom” (2013) 22 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing 13; Catherine A Lemmer, “A View from the Flip Side: Using the ‘Inverted Classroom’ to Enhance the Legal Information Literacy of the International LLM Student” (2013) 105 Law Library Journal 461; Judith Lihosit and Jane Larrington, “Flipping the Legal Research Classroom” (2013) 22 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing 1; Louise Hewitt, “Timing Is Flipping Everything: A Case Study in Law That Suggests Student Engagement Depends on When the Flipped Classroom Is Introduced” (2017) 10(1) Compass: Journal of Teaching and Learning https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/417 accessed 7 June 2023. Cf Jennifer Ireland, “Blended Learning in Intellectual Property: The Best of Both Worlds” (2008) 18 Legal Education Review 139.11 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 13. See also Lemmer (n 10) 463.12 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 102: “more time for in-class exercises”; Slomanson (n 10) 100: “deposition strategy”; Upchurch (n 10) 58, “advanced legal analysis and practical legal skills exercises”; Davis, Neary and Vaughn (n 10) 13: “hands-on legal research exercises”.13 Diane Ketelle, “Introduction to the Special Issue: What Is Storytelling in the Higher Education Classroom?” (2017) 13 Storytelling, Self, Society 143, 144.14 Paul Maharg, “(Re)-Telling Stories: Narrative Theory and the Practice of Client Counselling” (1996) 30 The Law Teacher 295.15 Ketelle (n 13) 144.16 Judith D Moran, “Families, Law, and Literature: The Story of a Course on Storytelling” (2015) 49 University of San Francisco Law Review 1, 6.17 ibid 6.18 Maharg (n 14) 298.19 Cf Susan M Chesler and Karen J Sneddon, “Once upon a Transaction: Narrative Techniques and Drafting” (2016) 68 Oklahoma Law Review 263, 269.20 Maharg (n 14) 298.21 Grose (n 7) 41.22 Maharg (n 14) 295.23 ibid; Delia B Conti, “Narrative Theory and the Law: A Rhetorician’s Invitation to the Legal Academy” (2001) 39 Duquesne Law Review 457, 458.24 Paula A Franzese, “The Power of Empathy in the Classroom” (2017) 47 Seton Hall Law Review 693, 705.25 Elizabeth Christian, “The Art of Storytelling: Teaching Practice Skills through Storytelling” (2014) 18 AALL Spectrum 27, 28–29, Gone with the Wind.26 Moran (n 16) 30–31; Jamison Wilcox, ”Borrowing Experience: Using Reflective Lawyer Narratives in Teaching” (2000) 50 Journal of Legal Education 213, 220.27 Christian (n 25) 28–29, Zion v New York Hospital; Michael Blissenden, “Using Storytelling as a Teaching Model in a Law School: The Experience in an Australian Context” (2007) 41 The Law Teacher 260.28 Michael Ariens, “Teaching American Legal History through Storytelling” (2013) 53 American Journal of Legal History 405, 405–06; Leslie Bender, “Teaching Torts Stories” (2005) 55 Journal of Legal Education 108, 109; Nancy S Marder, “Teaching Civil Procedure Stories” (2005) 55 Journal Legal Education 138; Ajay K Mehrotra, “Teaching Tax Stories” (2005) 55 Journal of Legal Education 116, 117; Thomas Ross, “Teaching Constitutional Law Stories” (2005) 55 Journal of Legal Education 126, 127; Laura S Underkuffler, “Teaching Property Stories” (2005) 55 Journal of Legal Education 152, 153.29 Steslow and Gardner (n 3) 258.30 Ariens (n 28) 405–06.31 James R Elkins, “Reading/Teaching Lawyer Films” (2004) 28 Vermont Law Review 813, 839.32 Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, “Teaching Health Law” (2009) 37 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 139; Philip N Meyer and Catlin A Davis, “Law Students Go to the Movies II: Using Clips from Classic Hollywood Movies to Teach Criminal Law and Legal Storytelling to First-Year Law Students” (2018) 68 Journal of Legal Education 37, 39; Elizabeth G Porter, “Imagining Law: Visual Thinking across the Law School Curriculum” (2018) 68 Journal of Legal Education 8, 13; George Fisher, “Evidence by the Video Method” (2018) 68 Journal of Legal Education 15, 16.33 See Franzese (n 24) 706, The Amazing Race and 60 Minutes.34 Beryl Blaustone, “Teaching Evidence: Storytelling in the Classroom” (1992) 41 The American University Law Review 453, 459.35 Grose (n 7) 50.36 Elkins (n 31) 824.37 Grose (n 7) 56.38 Leonard (n 32) 144.39 Paula Abrams, “We the People and Other Constitutional Tales: Teaching Constitutional Meaning through Narrative” (2007) 41 The Law Teacher 247, 251. Cf Leon Wolff, “Let’s Talk about Lex: Narrative Analysis as Both Research Method and Teaching Technique in Law” (2014) 35 Adelaide Law Review 3, 8.40 Blissenden (n 27) 262; Larry Crumbley and L Murphy Smith, “Using Short Stories to Teach Critical Thinking and Communication Skills to Tax Students” (2000) 9 Accounting Education 291; Paul L Caron, “Back to the Future: Teaching Law through Stories” (2002) 71 University of Cincinnati Law Review 405, 408.41 Grose (n 7) 48; Christian (n 25) 28; Moran (n 16) 18.42 Grose (n 7) ibid; Dawn Watkins and Laura Guihen, “Using Narrative and Metaphor in Formative Feedback” (2018) 68 Journal of Legal Education 154, 165.43 Grose (n 7) 49; Laurie Shanks, “Whose Story Is It, Anyway? – Guiding Students to Client-centered Interviewing through Storytelling” (2008) 14 Clinical Law Review 509, 516.44 Christian (n 25) 29; Joanne Roebuck, Lisa Westcott and Dominique Thiriet, “Reflective Narratives: A Useful Learning Activity and Assessment for First Year Law Students” (2007) 47 The Law Teacher 37, 42.45 Levit (n 1) 264; Wilcox (n 26) 219.46 Levit (n 1) ibid; Andrew J McClurg, “Poetry in Commotion: Katko v. Briney and the Bards of First Year Torts” (1995) 74 Oregon Law Review 823.47 Blaustone (n 34) 453; Fisher (n 32) 16.48 Leonard (n 32) 139.49 Debra Moss Curtis, “Teach the Children Well: Incorporating Cultural Literacy into the Law School Learning Experience” (2006) 37(2) Cumberland Law Review 177, 205.50 Carrie Menkel-Meadow, “Telling Stories in School: Using Case Studies and Stories to Teach Legal Ethics” (2000) 69 Fordham Law Review 787; Thomas L Shaffer, “On Teaching Legal Ethics with Stories about Clients” (1998) 39 William & Mary Law Review 421.51 Meyer and Davis (n 32) 37.52 Linda L Berger, “Studying and Teaching ‘Law as Rhetoric’: A Place to Stand” (2010) 16 Legal Writing 3.53 Amy Vorenberg and Margaret Sova McCabe, “Practice Writing: Responding to the Needs of the Bench and Bar in First-Year Writing Programs” (2009) Phoenix Law Review 1.54 Krieger and Martinez (n 1) 119; Tyler and Mullen (n 1) 285.55 Curtis (n 49) 223; Caron (n 40) 405.56 Heather JE Simmons, “Practical Magic: How the Ancient Art of Storytelling Can Make Us Better Lawyers” (2015) 94(8) Michigan Bar Journal 52.57 Krieger and Martinez (n 1) 145.58 Cf ibid.59 Blaustone (n 34); Blissenden (n 27); Crumbley and Smith (n 40); Grose (n 7); Moran (n 16); Meyer and Davis (n 32).60 Abrams (n 39); Christian (n 25); Leonard (n 32); Shanks (n 43) 523; Philip N Meyer, “Convicts, Criminals, Prisoners, and Outlaws: A Course in Popular Storytelling” (1992) 42 Journal of Legal Education 129.61 LW Anderson and DR Krathwohl (eds), A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing (abridged edn, Allyn and Bacon 2001).62 Mark Seaman, “Bloom’s Taxonomy: Its Evolution, Revision, and Use in the Field of Education” (2011) 13 Curriculum & Teaching Dialogue 29, 33.63 Mary Crossley, “Rick’s Taxonomy” (2016) 66 Syracuse Law Review 641, 642.64 ibid. Paul D Callister, “Time to Blossom: An Inquiry into Bloom’s Taxonomy as a Hierarchy and Means for Teaching Legal Research Skills” (2010) 102 Law Library Journal 191, 192; Paul Jerome Mclaughlin Jr, “Finding the Theory and Method for the Pedagogy of Teaching Legal Research: A Response to Callister’s ‘Time to Blossom’” (2017) 36 Legal Reference Services Quarterly 74, 75; E Scott Fruehwald, “Bringing Legal Education Reform into the First Year: A New Type of Torts Text” (2017) 50 John Marshall Law Review 713, 752; Susan D Landrum, “Drawing Inspiration from the Flipped Classroom Model: An Integrated Approach to Academic Support for the Academically Underprepared Law Student” (2015) 53 Duquesne Law Review 245, 267: “Legal educators have increasingly used Bloom’s Taxonomy in course development and assessment”; Susan Stuart and Ruth Vance, “Bringing a Knife to the Gunfight: The Academically Underprepared Law Student & Legal Education Reform” (2013) 48 Valparaiso University Law Review 41, 50–55.65 Sonia M Gipson Rankin, “Creating Lightbulb Moments: Developing Higher-Order Thinking in Family Law Classrooms through Court Observations” (2022) 51 Journal of Law and Education 13, 15.66 Michael T Gibson, “A Critique of Best Practices in Legal Education: Five Things All Law Professors Should Know” (2012) 42 University Baltimore Law Review 1, 15.67 ibid 6.68 Christine M Lorillard, “Stories That Make the Law Free: Literature as a Bridge between the Law and the Culture in Which It Must Exist” (2005) 12 Texas Wesleyan Law Review 251, 253, citing Jane B Barron, “The Many Promises of Storytelling” (1991) 23 Rutgers Law Journal 79, 80–81. Cf Ariens (n 28) 406; Blaustone (n 34) 459–60; Abrams (n 39) 258; William A Kaplin, “Problem Solving and Storytelling in Constitutional Law Courses” (1998) 21 Seattle University Law Review 885, 886.69 Franzese (n 24) 705.70 Cf Krieger and Martinez (n 1) 146; Grose (n 7) 41.71 Krieger and Martinez (n 1) 146.72 Franzese (n 24) 705.73 Krieger and Martinez (n 1) 148.74 Grose (n 7) 41; Brian J Foley and Ruth Anne Robbins, “Fiction 101: A Primer for Lawyers on How to Use Fiction Writing Techniques to Write Persuasive Facts Sections” (2001) 32 Rutgers Law Journal 459, 461: “advising students to ‘Tell a story’”. Cf Tyler and Mullen (n 1) 297.75 Grose (n 7) 49; Blaustone (n 34) 454.76 Cf Grose (n 7) 49.77 Grose (n 7) 56; Blissenden (n 27) 265; Blaustone (n 34) 460; Meyer (n 60) 135; McClurg (n 46) 823; Fisher (n 32) 21; Wilcox (n 26) 219.78 Blaustone (n 34) 454, 459; Grose (n 7) 59; Kaplin (n 68) 891; McClurg (n 46) 833; Watkins and Guihen (n 42) 166; Wolff (n 39) 10.79 Abrams (n 39) 259.80 Roebuck, Westcott and Thiriet (n 44) 43.81 Christian (n 25) 28–29.82 Blissenden (n 27) 266.83 Abrams (n 39) 252: “time constraints limit the number of cases that can be considered in depth”. Cf Blaustone (n 34) 459: “I limited review narratives to no longer than eight or ten minutes each”. Crumbley and Smith (n 40) 293: “time consuming”.84 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 9.85 ibid 13. See also Lemmer (n 10) 463.86 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 23–24; Davis, Neary and Vaughn (n 10) 13.87 Cf Joanne Clough and Gillian W Shorter, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning as a Method of Engaging Year One Law Students” (2015) 49 The Law Teacher 277, 289.88 Chet Meyers and Thomas B Jones, “What Active Learning Is and How It Works” in Promoting Active Learning: Strategies for the College Classroom (Jossey-Bass 1993) 19.89 Khristina Russell, “Active vs. Passive Learning: What’s the Difference?” (Graduate Programs for Educators, 2 June 2021) www.graduateprogram.org/2021/06/active-vs-passive-learning-whats-the-difference/ accessed 25 September 2023.90 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 25.91 ibid.92 ibid 29; Patricia McKellar and Paul Maharg, “Virtual Learning Environments: The Alternative to the Box under the Bed” (2005) 39 The Law Teacher 43, 44.93 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 29.94 ibid 25.95 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 99.96 ibid 104–05.97 Marlene Le Brun and Richard Johnstone, The Quiet (R)evolution: Improving Student Learning in Law (The Law Book Company Limited 1994) 260; Wolff and Chan (n 10) 65.98 Wolff and Chan (n 10) 65. Cf Davis, Neary and Vaughn (n 10) 14; McKellar and Maharg (n 92) 48; Upchurch (n 10) 62; Ireland (n 10) 150.99 Hewitt (n 10).100 ibid.101 ibid 5.102 Robert G Vaughn, “Use of Simulations in a First-Year Civil Procedure Class” (1995) 45 Journal of Legal Education 480, 484; Ine van Haaren‐Dresens, “Students as Legislators: Simulating the Making of an Act of Parliament by Collaborative Electronic Learning” (2004) 38 The Law Teacher 202, 212; Duncan Bentley, “Mooting in an Undergraduate Tax Program” (1996) 7 Legal Education Review 97, 120.103 Helen H Kang, “Use of Role Play and Interview Modes in Law Clinic Case Rounds to Teach Essential Legal Skills and to Maximize Meaningful Participation” (2012) 19 Clinical Law Review 207, 247.104 Blaustone (n 34) 454.105 Ruth Dann, “Assessment as Learning: Blurring the Boundaries of Assessment and Learning for Theory, Policy and Practice” (2014) 21(2) Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 149.