A meeting of representatives from all Diploma in Legal Practice providers that took place last week could have great significance not just for professional education in Scotland, but for the future of legal education. Staff from Diploma units at Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Stirling and Robert Gordon universities attended a day's discussion and planning at Strathclyde's Ross Priory for the Law Society's new Professional Education and Training (PEAT) 1 programme, which will start in 2011. The Society's Director of Training & Education Liz Campbell and Deputy Director Collette Paterson were in attendance as observers. After an initial presentation, the key decision to be taken on the day was whether all current providers would form a community of practice to share resources and best practice. Following wide-ranging discussion it was agreed that the approach had a lot to recommend it, and there was unanimous agreement to take the initiative forward.

 

What does this mean for PEAT 1? With its new emphasis on professionalism and on transactional learning, it means that providers will be co-operating on the production of high-quality materials and resources, which will be licenced under a Creative Commons licence or similar so as to create a body of Open Educational Resources (OER). Providers will also, where possible and given the unique strengths and local communities around each provider, share innovative methods, share tutor-training materials, and define standards of student performance in the key learning outcomes set by the Law Society. As Head of Strathclyde's Law School Professor Mark Poustie commented, 'Change is often difficult for institutions. A collaborative approach to education makes a lot of sense, particularly one that's transparent and fully participatory, and helps providers raise standards. That's essential for us all.'

 

This is a significant moment for legal education. It is probably the first time anywhere in the world that all providers of a programme of study have voluntarily formed a community of practice to share best practice in a transparent and democratic forum. Scottish professional legal education is thus leading the way globally. It is also offering an interesting exemplar of collaborative practice for providers of LLB degrees throughout the UK, and the training firms who host traineeships.

 

The next meeting of the group will be on 5 November, at an event organised by UKCLE in Edinburgh. Further information on that, and on the initiative generally, can be found at www.peat1.org