PDF The Inception of Modern Professional Education Studies in Legal History Bruce A Kimball 9781469614816 Books
PDF The Inception of Modern Professional Education Studies in Legal History Bruce A Kimball 9781469614816 Books
Download As PDF : The Inception of Modern Professional Education Studies in Legal History Bruce A Kimball 9781469614816 Books
Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906) is one of the most influential figures in the history of American professional education. As dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1895, he conceived, designed, and built the educational model that leading professional schools in virtually all fields subsequently emulated. In this first full-length biography of the educator and jurist, Bruce Kimball explores Langdell's controversial role in modern professional education and in jurisprudence.
Langdell founded his model on the idea of academic meritocracy. According to this principle, scholastic achievement should determine one's merit in professional life. Despite fierce opposition from students, faculty, alumni, and legal professionals, he designed and instituted a formal system of innovative policies based on meritocracy. This system's components included the admission requirement of a bachelor's degree, the sequenced curriculum and its extension to three years, the hurdle of annual examinations for continuation and graduation, the independent career track for professional faculty, the transformation of the professional library into a scholarly resource, the inductive pedagogy of teaching from cases, the organization of alumni to support the school, and a new, highly successful financial strategy.
Langdell's model was subsequently adopted by leading law schools, medical schools, business schools, and the schools of other professions. By the time of his retirement as dean at Harvard, Langdell's reforms had shaped the future model for professional education throughout the United States.
PDF The Inception of Modern Professional Education Studies in Legal History Bruce A Kimball 9781469614816 Books
"Christopher Columbus Langdell (1826-2006) reshaped legal education in the United States during his period as professor and Dean at Harvard Law School between 1870 and 1895. This book is a solid case study of the innovations he initiated at HLS, but it has a broader significance: Langdell also set the stage for the professionalization of professional school education generally through his influential leadership at HLS. And not incidentally, this also is a very effective biography of Langdell as well; one much needed since I am not aware of any prior biography of Langdell exhibiting such depth and experience.
After covering Langell's youth, education and period of practice on Wall Street, the biography really hits its stride when Langdell joins the HLS. Langdell was very upset by the corruption of courts and lawyers he had witnessed in New York. He concluded that rigorous professional and scientific legal education was the only way to immunize practitioners from Tweed-ring type corruption. And this meant rigorous training. Among his innovations (that have become standard in law schools) was the case method of instruction, focusing on case books; rigorous exams based on factual problem-oriented questions; sequencing of courses from the basic to the more advanced; three-year curriculum; requiring a college degree for admission to law school; an honors program; and rigorous Socratic questioning of students. All this seems familiar today to those of use who went to law school; it wasn't when Langdell was Dean and he faced both internal and external critics who bitterly criticized his innovations.
The book is outstanding in covering both Langdell and HLS. The author, who teaches at Ohio State's respected School of Education Policy & Leadership, did a two year fellowship at HLS, and is currently co-authoring a two-volume bicentennial history of HLS. He has been workong on Langdell since 1995--so he knows the material extremely well. There is, however, one fly (perhaps a big one) in the ointment: the author several times rather overdoes criticism of Justice Holmes, who had criticized Langdell as early as the 1880's for what he saw as a legal approach based on scientific principles and excessive reliance on logic, rather than putting law into the social context that Holmes preferred. There has been quite a debate in the law reviews on whether Holmes misunderstood Langdell, or only understood him all too well. The book at times becames a spirited brief for Langdell, with speculative psychological theorizing as to why Holmes was critical of Langdell (which struck me as much pap). Wherever one comes out in this debate, and the author makes a strong case for Langdell, the author's discussion enhances our understanding of legal thought during the close of the 19th and the early 20th century. The book is supported by extensive notes (fortunately, at the base of the page) and a stupendous 61 page bibliography. At last, it seems, Langdell is getting his due in this fine biography."
Product details
|
Tags : The Inception of Modern Professional Education (Studies in Legal History) [Bruce A. Kimball] on . Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906) is one of the most influential figures in the history of American professional education. As dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1895,Bruce A. Kimball,The Inception of Modern Professional Education (Studies in Legal History),The University of North Carolina Press,1469614812,Educators,Higher,Legal History,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Educators,Biography Autobiography,Biography / Autobiography,Biography/Autobiography,EDUCATION / Higher,Education/Higher,Education/History,Higher further education, tertiary education,History,LAW / Legal History,Law/Legal History,Non-Fiction,UNIVERSITY PRESS,United States,the inception of modern professional education; c.c. langdell; christopher columbus langdell; bruce a. kimball; american professional education; history of american education; langdell's role in modern education; academic meritocracy; langdell's reforms; professional american education,EDU015000
The Inception of Modern Professional Education Studies in Legal History Bruce A Kimball 9781469614816 Books Reviews :
The Inception of Modern Professional Education Studies in Legal History Bruce A Kimball 9781469614816 Books Reviews
- Christopher Columbus Langdell (1826-2006) reshaped legal education in the United States during his period as professor and Dean at Harvard Law School between 1870 and 1895. This book is a solid case study of the innovations he initiated at HLS, but it has a broader significance Langdell also set the stage for the professionalization of professional school education generally through his influential leadership at HLS. And not incidentally, this also is a very effective biography of Langdell as well; one much needed since I am not aware of any prior biography of Langdell exhibiting such depth and experience.
After covering Langell's youth, education and period of practice on Wall Street, the biography really hits its stride when Langdell joins the HLS. Langdell was very upset by the corruption of courts and lawyers he had witnessed in New York. He concluded that rigorous professional and scientific legal education was the only way to immunize practitioners from Tweed-ring type corruption. And this meant rigorous training. Among his innovations (that have become standard in law schools) was the case method of instruction, focusing on case books; rigorous exams based on factual problem-oriented questions; sequencing of courses from the basic to the more advanced; three-year curriculum; requiring a college degree for admission to law school; an honors program; and rigorous Socratic questioning of students. All this seems familiar today to those of use who went to law school; it wasn't when Langdell was Dean and he faced both internal and external critics who bitterly criticized his innovations.
The book is outstanding in covering both Langdell and HLS. The author, who teaches at Ohio State's respected School of Education Policy & Leadership, did a two year fellowship at HLS, and is currently co-authoring a two-volume bicentennial history of HLS. He has been workong on Langdell since 1995--so he knows the material extremely well. There is, however, one fly (perhaps a big one) in the ointment the author several times rather overdoes criticism of Justice Holmes, who had criticized Langdell as early as the 1880's for what he saw as a legal approach based on scientific principles and excessive reliance on logic, rather than putting law into the social context that Holmes preferred. There has been quite a debate in the law reviews on whether Holmes misunderstood Langdell, or only understood him all too well. The book at times becames a spirited brief for Langdell, with speculative psychological theorizing as to why Holmes was critical of Langdell (which struck me as much pap). Wherever one comes out in this debate, and the author makes a strong case for Langdell, the author's discussion enhances our understanding of legal thought during the close of the 19th and the early 20th century. The book is supported by extensive notes (fortunately, at the base of the page) and a stupendous 61 page bibliography. At last, it seems, Langdell is getting his due in this fine biography.
Comments
Post a Comment