Law in action: learning through scripted role plays - tutor introduction

On this page: background | using scripted role plays | thanks and acknowledgements | references and further reading

This resource was inspired by the many different groups of people the authors have had the pleasure of working with. Their enthusiasm for learning constantly pleases – and sometimes surprises. Having spent more years at the teaching equivalent of the coalface (the chalkface?) than the authors care to admit, they are regularly reminded that it is the students who actively engage in the educational process who appear to get the most out of it.

(Research findings to be published in 2007 in the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education indicate that students who undertake a clinical legal education option significantly improve their understanding of the substantive law and the skills associated with lawyering. Having to apply their knowledge and skills and then being required to reflect on the process would appear to have a marked impact of student progress. The study was based on a five year examination of student performance at Sheffield Hallam University by Richard Grimes.)

Please note that ‘students’, for the purposes of this resource, include not just those at school or college but anyone interested in furthering their understanding, whether through formal or informal study.

Background

A great deal has been written elsewhere on the value of experiential learning. High levels of enjoyment, motivation and academic success are reported in such hands-on or clinical programmes.

This resource attempts to develop the concept of learning by doing by bringing into the classroom, lecture theatre, seminar or training workshop the opportunity for students and staff to act out realistic scenarios, replicating what actually happens in a magistrates court.

It provides tutors with ready made materials and teaching/learning notes, which can be used to stage interactive sessions with students. The structure enables involvement from the outset, with little need for preparatory work. Guidance is provided on what is necessary to set up and run the role plays. The fully scripted role plays can be used just as they appear – all that is required is a cast to act out the various scripted roles. The semi-scripted role plays need more input, in the sense that important components of the case have to be researched and prepared. These might suit those students who have more background knowledge and experience.

Through the use of the scripts participants can play the part of magistrates, defendants, advocates and other court related personnel.

So, why a role play in the magistrates court? All criminal cases begin there. An estimated 96% of cases are resolved at this level, with some 2.4 million defendants involved (Time intervals survey June 1999, as reported in The Magistrate, April 2002). The court is therefore of great practical, numerical and social significance, affecting many lives across England and Wales (the system and procedures that apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are different and are not covered in the resource). The role plays expose those taking part to the workings of the criminal justice system and the role of law and lawyers in that process. The magistrates court provides fertile ground for study in terms of legal structures and procedures and the substantive law, as well as the ethical framework within which these operate.

Although this resource focuses on criminal cases, it should not be forgotten that magistrates also have an important function to perform in civil cases – see the materials about the magistrates court for an explanation of its jurisdiction.

Using scripted role plays

The methodology and most of the role plays have been piloted in a variety of different contexts, including:

• in secondary schools, as an introduction to the work of magistrates
• at open days, to give intending students and their families an insight into law and active learning
• as part of the curriculum on law degree programmes
• for students on the Legal Practice Course (the compulsory vocational programme for would-be solicitors in England and Wales)
• at a prison, where prisoners were taking a short course on law and the legal system
  The response from all concerned was the same in each case – an enthusiastic welcome.

We suggest that as a teaching and learning tool not only is the technique used here effective, but the opportunity to study the operation of the court through simulated exercises provides a variety of study possibilities.

The point we are making can perhaps be best understood by reference to the target audiences the resource is aimed at. Consider the following:

• school pupils – seeing and experiencing the court in action introduces them to an important part of the court system, the role of lawyers, notions of rights and responsibilities and concepts of justice. To coin a contemporary term, we are talking ‘citizenship’. Remember that since September 2001 citizenship has been part of the National Curriculum in secondary schools.
• FE students – through their involvement in the role plays more mature students can become aware of issues of civil liberty and constitutional matters. They can engage in discussions about the role of law in society as part of the wider view of the legal and political system.
• undergraduates – using the scripts degree level students can address a range of more complex issues, including the difference (and consequences of the difference) between civil and criminal liability, the use of legal authority, and court structure. Presentational skills can be developed. At a more sophisticated stage they can focus on legal principles and on particular aspects of the substantive law and procedure (for example crime, evidence, ethics). They can also address relevant lawyering skills, notably research and advocacy.
• students on vocational courses – the Legal Practice Course and the Bar Vocational Course focus considerable attention on litigation, particularly from the skills perspective. The role plays provide valuable material, especially in the semi-scripted form – participants can interview the relevant parties and prepare their own questions and submissions.
• personnel within the criminal justice professions – a range of training needs exist in the police force, amongst social workers and probation officers, and for magistrates, court officers and other staff. The role plays offer an opportunity to gain direct experience of the work of the criminal court and the practical setting those involved in the field have to address.
• adult education – the approach, focus and content of this resource may be of value to those studying on a more informal basis, perhaps through community-based initiatives. A variety of ‘what are your rights?’ or legal literacy courses are available nationally, and the role plays can add an interesting and instructive dimension to these studies.

Thanks and acknowledgements

This project probably would not have happened were it not for:

• the Magistrates’ Association. In the early days in Sheffield, schoolchildren were introduced to the courts and their work. Empty courtrooms were used and pupils acted out typical cases with similar scripts to those found here (also written by Alan Butcher). They also visited the courts for real, comparing what they saw with what they had role played. The ‘schools project’ later expanded to become the Magistrates in the Community (MIC) scheme.
• Helen Blaby BA, JP, who became the schools project coordinator. Our thanks go to her for the effort that she put in to that project and for her support generally.
• John Richman BA, the then Clerk to the Justices and Chief Executive to the Sheffield Bench in Sheffield (and incidentally joint editor of Stone’s Justices’ Manual – the practitioners’ court ‘bible’). He gave the project his blessing and enthusiastic support.
• David White, John Richman’s successor, who kindly vetted the scripts for legal and procedural accuracy, so far as that can be achieved in simulated exercises such as these. He gave unstintingly of his time.
• Heather Smith of the College of Law. Her critical eye has produced a far better product!
• Margaret Melluish and Georgina Sitch, who have, with their sometimes frightening efficiency and extraordinary capacity to decipher handwriting, made the physical production of the resource so much easier.
• numerous other colleagues, pupils, students (notably year 2 of the 1998-99 LLB cohort at the University of Derby), parents, prisoners, community activists and family members, all of whom contributed in their different, but important, ways.
• Steven Billington (Billy), who physically and painstakingly organised the final layout of the resource into the tutor and student versions.
• Karl Spencer, Legal Adviser to the Justices of the Birmingham Bench, who kindly vetted the final version of the scripts for procedural accuracy.

The shortcomings, such as they may be, of course remain our own.

References and further reading

• Brandes D & Ginnis P (1986) A guide to student-centred learning London: Blackwell – material on role play and other hands-on methods
• Brayne H, Duncan N & Grimes R (1998) Clinical legal education: active learning in your law school London: Blackstone Press – an examination of experiential learning in the context of legal education, including a definition of clinical legal education and a discussion of the various models
• Kolb D (1993) ‘The process of experiential learning’ in M Thorpe (eds) Culture and processes of adult learning (London, Routledge) – a general discussion on experiential learning, or ‘learning by doing and reflecting on the doing’
• Le Brun M & Johnstone J (1994) The quiet ®evolution Sydney: Law Book Company – discussion of the nature of ‘deep learning’

The magistrates court:

• Anthony and Berryman’s Magistrates’ Court Guide (Butterworths, updated annually) – a comprehensive description of jurisdiction and powers
• Stone’s Justices’ Manual (Butterworths, updated annually) – the definitive work on the court

Last Modified: 4 June 2010