This week’s and next week’s teaching tidbits focus on creating syllabi that advance goals common among us, i.e., creating a welcoming, inclusive culture, encouraging students, advancing a culture of constructive disagreement, communicating our high expectations, and demonstrating our passion for our subjects and for student success. In addition, as you might expect, these two tidbits also address compliance with the ABA standards and offer suggestions for providing the clarity and predictability students need. I have organized the two tidbits into three subtopics. In this week’s tidbit, I will provide a simple explanation as to why your syllabus is important, and I then will focus on syllabus provisions designed to address and help create your desired class culture. 

As you review these materials, keep in mind the following two points, which, for emphasis, I have bolded and indented: 

• Your syllabus is your students’ first introduction to you. 
• Consequently, you should draft your syllabus, as much as possible, to present yourself as you want to be understood by your students.

For some of you, I know that these are radical thoughts; we have been trained to see syllabi as simply informational. However, I can assure you that, if students experience your syllabus as distinctly warm and supportive, if they see you as someone who has high, even challenging  expectations because you believe in them, they are more likely to frame everything you do in light of that first impression. One example will suffice. When we conducted the focus groups for What the Best Law Teachers Do, we were surprised that, roughly half the students said, “She cared so much about our learning process and our efforts to manage our workloads that she always stuck to her schedule of assignments,” and the other half of the students said, “She cared so much about our learning that she would modify her schedule of assignments as needed when we were struggling with a concept.” In other words, students’ perceptions about their teachers’ caring attitudes and efforts were more important than whether they stuck to or departed from their schedule of assignments.

Syllabus Provisions that Help Create a Great Class Culture

As detailed below, the following provisions can help create an optimal class culture: expectations (if those expectations include expectations of you as the professor and expectations of the students), your teaching philosophy, the teaching methods you will use in class, why you love your subject, your expectations for constructive disagreement, the inclusive culture you are hoping to create, information about raising bias concerns, a basic needs provision (see below for an explanation of what such a provision might say), and a provision addressing the professor’s and the students’ pronouns and names.

Teaching Philosophy. In prior teaching posts, I have advocated writing a teaching philosophy here, and I have shared my own teaching philosophy here. Your teaching philosophy is a window into what you are trying to do each day in class. It helps students understand you and the teaching choices you make.

Teaching Methods. I believe it is helpful to both list your preferred teaching methods and to explain why those are your preferred methods. (If you are a traditional Socratic-style questioner, explain why. There are plenty of good things to say about the method.) It is also helpful to say that you are open to using other methods that students report have worked for them (but only if you are, in fact, open, to using teaching methods suggested by students). Here is a partial menu of possibilities:

• Traditional law school Socratic-style questioning
• Lecture (If all you do or most of what you do is lecture, it is not ideal. But lecturing conveys information speedily and can therefore be an efficient tool.)
• Cooperative learning group exercises, including think-pair-share, write-pair-share, group-pair-solo, jigsaw
• Free writing
• Practical lawyering exercises
• Integrated learning strategies instruction
• Pre-tests

Why You Love Your Subject. This is another way to introduce yourself, and it also allows you to communicate passion for your subject, which enhances student engagement. If you love estates in land, say so and explain why. If search and seizure doctrine is your bag, own it. I happen to love the challenges of human efforts to communicate with each other, and, because contracts turns out to be a study of failed communications, I love the subject so much.

Expectations for Constructive Disagreement. Given how polarized our world has become, it is helpful to communicate your expectations for constructive disagreement. Your students need to understand your views as to the importance of disagreeing with each other in productive ways. Possible expectations might include: 

• only attacking ideas and not people, 
• listening to a speaking student before raising a hand, 
• asking clarifying questions and never assuming intent or belief, 
• striving to use only one’s proportionate share of speaking time, 
• being introspective and challenging one’s own assumptions and biases, 
• engaging in active listening when others speak, and
• treating others how one wishes to be treated while also respecting differences in backgrounds and life experiences.

It is also helpful to make sure students understand that a law school curriculum necessarily covers many difficult topics and can lead to challenging conversations inside and outside of the classroom. Students need to know that they will likely encounter words or ideas in cases and statutes that are upsetting or even feel harmful or painful. Let your students know in advance that many laws are quite flawed and reflect outdated views. Let students know that, if they feel unduly disturbed by course material or a topic discussed, they can talk to a peer mentor, you, another professor, someone who works in student services, or a counselor.

The Inclusive Culture You Are Hoping to Create (Including Information about Raising Bias Concerns). This section, closely related to the prior one, should express your appreciation for the diversity in your classroom, including diversity of political views, racial identity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ages, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, and disabilities or lack thereof. You also may want to emphasize the loss to the community if anyone feels singled out, disrespected, or silenced. Finally, you add to your credibility if you provide students with information about how to complain about issues in your class and report bias incidents.

Basic Needs. These syllabus provisions, about which I learned from my McGeorge colleague, Professor Ron Hochbaum, are more common in undergraduate syllabi, as evidenced here, here, and here. They include statements supportive of students who lack food or housing and share resources for meeting those needs, including food pantries, housing for people experiencing homelessness, the student services office, and the financial aid office. If even one student gets help as a result . . .  

Your and Your Students’ Pronouns and the Pronunciation of Names. In my syllabus, I make it a point to share my pronoun choice and the pronunciation of my last name, and my syllabus also invites students to share with me their pronoun choices and the pronunciation of their names. In my experience, students experience this small act of giving them autonomy over how they are addressed as an inclusive, supportive practice. And it requires no more than a minimal effort from me to comply. 

Preview of Next Week’s Tidbit

In next week’s tidbit, I will first share recommendations relating to syllabus provisions implementing the new ABA outcomes requirements and common law school and university requirements, and then I will address the barebones but essential syllabus provisions: grading, assignments, communication, attendance, and preparation. Finally, next week’s tidbit will include a final section that explores which syllabus provisions are ones for which you could invite student input and why you might want to do so.