Enterprising law students: celebrating enterprise in law

Fully Booked

11 May 2006

National Space Centre, Leicester

This event brought together at an exciting venue, the law schools that took part in UKCLE’s Enterprise in Law project and others involved in enterprise teaching and learning in the UK.

The day opened with a panel discussion on the meaning of enterprise. The panel members, Stephen Hagen (Mercia Institute of Enterprise, University of Warwick), Michael Naughton (Innocence Project, University of Bristol), Alison Price (Institute for Enterprise, Leeds Metropolitan University) and Tracey Varnava (Associate Director, UKCLE) each put forward their view of enterprise teaching and learning and addressed questions put to them by the audience.

Comments included:

• identifying the enterprising qualities ideally to be developed in students – adaptability, problem solving, inventiveness, creative thinking
• the importance of considering tutors’ skills and supporting them when they are faced with enterprise teaching
• recognition of how enterprising tutors are being in their own way

The notions of social entrepreneurship and of the ‘good’ lawyer, in both the ethical and the technocratic sense, were discussed, acknowledging the breadth of meaning of enterprise and entrepreneurship. Activity is going on regardless of the enterprise agenda – for example, innocence projects were not set up with social entrepreneurship particularly in mind but had been labelled as such subsequently.

The discussion was followed by a presentation from Rob East, Rhiannon Pugh and Rachel Cryer (University of Glamorgan), who outlined their involvement in UKCLE’s enterprise project, consisting of the development of materials for a Law and Society module and careers sessions. Students had covered issues such as globalisation and the ethical entrepreneur, as well as looking at their own enterprising skills. We were able to look at some of the materials produced and undertake two of the exercises.

We were then taken on a journey to the edge of the universe! No, this was not a highly innovative teaching session, but a showing in the Space Centre’s theatre of an entertaining space film .

After lunch Ruth Soetendorp and Jim Roach (Bournemouth University) talked about the Law and engineers project, where law students had provided advice on intellectual property (IP) law to engineering students. Through this discipline crossover students had been able to develop a wider skills set and to bring IP law to life. Again we did not just sit back and listen, but took part in a short activity to consider the areas of law an engineer might encounter when embarking on the commercialisation of a new product, in this case a solar powered light.

After this Penny English (Middlesex University) showed us a sample of the enterprise materials she had developed, again as part of the UKCLE enterprise project, for the free movement of goods part of an EC law module. There were looks of shock on some faces as Penny announced that we had to identify the EC law problems arising from the materials she presented. Fortunately she did not prolong the agony, and let us off lightly with little questioning!

The final session took us to the other end of the enterprise spectrum, away from the business and commercial context, to innocence projects and social entrepreneurship. Carole McCartney and Jonathan Burnett (University of Leeds) outlined their innocence project where students investigate suspected wrongful criminal convictions. Carole highlighted the wide range of skills developed by students, from critical thinking and deep learning to thinking and acting boldly and resourcefully, yet ethically – characteristics of the social entrepreneur.

In closing the event, Amanda Fancourt, then coordinator of the UKCLE enterprise project, listed the qualities of an enterprise teacher that the panellists had identified – inspirational thinking and delivery, belief in and experience of enterprise, resourcefulness, creativity, leading and inspiring with credibility – all food for thought.

Overall, this was a very successful event. Delegates welcomed and enjoyed the opportunity to network and learn about different models of enterprise teaching and the way in which the enterprise theme permeates other law schools and curricula. The tasks and activities presented enhanced the appreciation of the range of enterprise teaching and learning and how broad the notion of enterprise can be.