Implementing Aba Standard 303(B)(3): Positive Legal Education Through A Community Of Inquiry

Abstract

This Article builds on previous scholarship and offers an andragogy option for delivering PID at the classroom level. Adopting the Foundational Competencies Model (FCM) and Four Foundational Professional Development and Formation Goals (PD&F Goals), this Article revisits Professor Debra S. Austin’s call for a Positive Legal Education (PLE) movement. The Article suggests that, when combined with the Community of Inquiry (CoI) teaching framework and andragogy methods, positive legal education provides an ideal philosophy for meeting the PD&F Goals to achieve the FCM. The discussion includes suggestions for law schools to employ positive psychology in a CoI so that students can learn, grow, and flourish while in law school, on the bar exam, and in the profession. The appendices provide a timeline of major developments in legal education, a lesson plan template, and an example of the template in use. With a PLE/CoI andragogy model, the academy can improve law student well-being and help develop professional identities through achieving the PD&F Goals that establish FCM. Those professional strengths can trickle into law practice for a healthier profession with thriving attorneys who flourish.