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Turning the Curriculum Upside Down: Comparative Law as an Educational Tool for Constructing Pluralistic Legal Mind

Jaakko Husa
University of Eastern Finland

October 13, 2009

German Law Journal, Vol. 10, No. 7, p. 913, 2009
CLPE Research Paper No. 35/2009

Abstract:
The argument in this paper draws inspiration from the pedagogical theory of so-called constructivism. An effective law curriculum is one which can stimulate students to learn legal thinking. The constructivist approach suggests that the learner is more actively involved in a joint enterprise with the law teacher of constructing new legally relevant, and perhaps competing, meanings. Comparative law and/or foreign law and even approximate knowledge of different foreign approaches to similar types of questions may be regarded as a valuable tool for the construction of a primary pluralistic legal mind.

Keywords: Legal education, Constructivist approach

JEL Classifications: K10, K40

Working Paper Series

Date posted: October 13, 2009 ; Last revised: October 13, 2009

Suggested Citation

Husa, Jaakko, Turning the Curriculum Upside Down: Comparative Law as an Educational Tool for Constructing Pluralistic Legal Mind (October 13, 2009). German Law Journal, Vol. 10, No. 7, p. 913, 2009; CLPE Research Paper No. 35/2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1488266

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Contact Information

Jaakko Husa (Contact Author)

University of Eastern Finland ( email )

PO Box 111
Joensuu 80100
Finland