Abstract
The challenge of teaching a skill-based course online, during pandemic unfolded lasting/ground-breaking opportunities for teachers and students of law alike. For the advocacy skills' training course, a suit for dissolution of marriage was selected and training was divided into 12 steps. The pre-planned semester calendar of the University was followed, but in the virtual learning environment (VLE), sessions were held mostly synchronously by using an indigenized blended learning (BL) model. Station rotation (SR) and the flipped classroom (FC) were also indigenized for effective use. Indigenization of BL was done. SR was done by creating stations comprising research areas involved in the trial for dissolution of a marriage. The FC was used to make students learn lectures beforehand, and all simulations, role-plays and activities were done in class. On-spot grading was done on assessment rubrics by using standard observation forms, generated based on extracted principles. All rubrics and standard forms were shared and discussed with students to build trust in the VLE. The asynchronous mode was also used, but only for the sake of supplemented learning. The grading policy was revised, and the curves of summative and formative assessments were flattened. A total of 45 students were trained, out of whom 26 scored A, four A–, two B, five B+, one B–, one C, one C+, one C– and four got F (for not participating at all). The outcome was encouraging. After completion of the semester, the need assessment survey culminated in a hands-on training session for the Faculty of Law (FoL). Participants designed courses using the BL model and found the methodology effective for future use in regular classes.
Introduction
In Pakistan, professional legal studies start after higher school education of 12 years. This is a 5-year law programme comprising 166 credit hours, consisting of 28 credits of compulsory and eight credits of general foundational courses and 114 credits of discipline-specific subjects, including a research project and four elective subjects. The medium of instruction is English, though Urdu, the national language, is also used in the classroom instructions and off-class student–teacher meetings. The class generally comprises 30% girls and 70% boys. Neither the Higher Education Commission (HEC) nor the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has formally required any specific teaching methodology, though the clinical method has been highlighted informally in meetings of the PBC. At University of Central Punjab (UCP), the law programme took off in 2016. The Faculty of Law (FoL) formally introduced experiential and clinical methods for law teaching for the first time in Pakistan. FoL also introduced five levels of advocacy skills training courses as part of regular studies.
As advocacy skills courses are not mandated by HEC for the completion of a law degree and universities are not allowed to change the credit hours as recommended by HEC, UCP decided to keep the courses non-credit. At the same time, to keep up with the standard of courses, it was decided that they would be duly graded in the same manner as all other subjects are done. The five levels of advocacy skills were designed and implemented by FoL initially during summer, but as the majority of law students came from around the province of Punjab and the training cost them in terms of extra hostel expenses, these courses were incorporated in the regular semester timetable.
This article focuses on level-II advocacy skills training regarding the conduct of a family trial for dissolution of marriage. This advocacy training course had been done in the previous year as a regular, on-campus course. However, this time, as the semester took off, the pandemic closed the doors of universities for everyone, and the challenge was to teach a skill-based advocacy training course online.
Previous Practice
Previously, the method of teaching was experiential, with a lot of doctrinal teaching and simulated exercises involved in a family trial. Sometimes, these exercises would be observed by some senior family lawyers, who would fortify the learning by adding their own experiences in actual court. The teacher (trainer/instructor) would design and perform several role-plays to let the students learn by examples. Students had ample opportunities to repeat and replay their role-plays or simulated exercises during training sessions in the presence of the trainer. To acquaint students with the ambience of the courtroom and of the mediation sessions, mock courtrooms and mediation cells were created on campus, where students would perform frequently. This course would be the most colourful and exciting experience during the fourth semester. As the skill’s training required a lot more interaction between teachers and students, taxing a lot of time of both but still would be prized by them.
With the ascendance of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), circumstances changed and took away the most desired part of the training comprising personal interactions, frequent meetings, late sittings in the corridors and performance in the courtrooms. Now, online learning is a new normal 1 brought by the pandemic. 2 Depression, 3 distrust, 4 frustration, 5 fear, 6 financial crunch 7 and estrangement 8 are some of the many challenges faced by almost everyone in society. Teaching in these circumstances 9 would have to cover the extra mile, but imparting of a skills course, 10 due to its intrinsic demand for more interaction 11 during advocacy skills training, added a lot more challenge to the online teaching.
Previously, the family trial was taught in two cycles. The first involved training of the trainers (ToT), and the second, training of the students. In the first cycle, permanent teachers would get trained in the family laws, with special reference to a suit for dissolution of marriage. In the second cycle, these trained teachers would train students to conduct similar suits. Under each trainer, one group of 15 students would get trained. The duration of ToT was 1 week, and training duration was 3 weeks for the students. The implementation plan comprised the following smaller steps:
Introductory collective discussion; Division of trainers into six groups; Allocation of one reason for dissolution to one trainer/group; Working of trainers in their respective areas/groups through role modelling and research exercises; Pre-trial proceedings with a view to introduce mediation skills; Presentation-of-evidence exercises; Presentation in the court setting through simulations; and ToT judging the simulations.
This plan had already undergone revision, because this time the training was offered as a full-semester course per the decision taken by the concerned bodies of the university. The compulsion of online teaching required many more changes and added a lot more challenges to the training. However, the challenges led to the introduction of new methods of learning, at the same time. One of the most important was blended learning (BL) in live and virtual classes. The advocacy skills training course was redesigned in the light of BL to implement it in a virtual learning environment (VLE).
Redesigning the Course for Online Teaching
The new academic semester started on 7 March 2020. Hardly 2 weeks had passed on campus before the pandemic brought a compulsory closure. The fear and scare of the situation not only cloaked the students but also enveloped the teachers. Further, an additional concern of teachers was the style and quality of the students’ academic needs. In this situation, notwithstanding that both teachers and students were practically alien to the VLE,12, 13 it was the only way forward. However, when they indulged in VLE, they found that there existed exciting tools and ideas in virtual teaching and learning, starting from curiosity 14 and culminating in complete involvement. 15 The challenge resulted in a unique opportunity for revamping advocacy skills training through the use of online learning models. 16
The trial of a family suit for dissolution of marriage was divided into 12 steps to systematically conduct the training. The steps were made smaller and understandable for the students. The modalities of the training were discussed with the students in detail. It was decided that every step would be role-played initially by the teacher (trainer) and tutor (teacher’s assistant) and then would be performed by the students. Notwithstanding the comprehensive training schedule, the students, by and large, consented to the schedule.
Table 1 shows the steps involved in the family trial. In the first column, all steps were classified. In the second column, placement of each step in the family trial was identified and stated. In the third column, types of activities were listed which were suitable for learning a specific skill. In the fourth column, expected outcomes of the activities were recorded. In the fifth column, the use of the outcome of the preceding step was given, and in the last column, the assessment percentage allocated to each step was given. Not only was the schedule shared with the students effectively, but they were also engaged to make suggestions. In particular, the volume of work and expected outcome for each day were decided with their consultation. The consultation with students added trust between the trainer and the trainees. Because students were not devoid/unaware of all the/conspiracy theories and scepticism spread in society especially through media about the conspiracy theories regarding the expand of Pandemic, some of them were of the view that online training was just an eyewash, the real objective of engaging students through VLE was to collect fees, disregarding any real learning of the students. Some of them were of the view that online training was just an eyewash: The real objective of engaging students through VLE was to collect fees, disregarding any real learning of the students. The sharing of the schedule and consideration of their suggestions diluted their misconceptions and gave them a direction for work.
Advocacy Skills Training Schedule with Allocated Marks
How Blended Learning Helped
BL is a method of learning where online resources are blended well with the face-to-face resources to optimize learning. 17 , 18 BL comprises the methods of the flipped classroom (FC) and station rotation (SR). The FC is a method where VLE is used to supplement the in-class learning. A pre-recorded video clip of 5–7 minutes is uploaded for students to learn the main concept out of the class. Then, in the class, a discussion is ignited on various aspects of the concept. SR, on the other hand, is a method to create various stations for the students to learn in smaller groups.
For the advocacy training, both the above-mentioned methods were utilized to enhance learning. In FL, students were required to listen to the recorded clips at their convenience before the actual online class. It was for the sake of bringing everyone on the same page regarding the topic to be discussed, and to motivate students to bring points of discussion to the class.19, 20 Students were required to listen to the recorded clips at their convenience before the actual online class. It was for the sake of bringing everyone on the same page regarding the topic to be discussed, and to motivate students to bring points of discussion to the class.
The practicum based on the doctrinal learning would be done in the live online class. On-spot grading was done. 21 For instance, if students learnt through the FC the concept of family mediation, its practicum in the form of simulation or role-play would be done in the live online class, and the grading would be done there and then.
SR is another method of BL. In this method various stations are created, and students are rotated between these stations to interact with other colleagues and hold discussions with them on some topic under discussion in the doctrinal or in the practicum class. In the training, this method was adopted by rotating students around multiple stations. 22 Seven stations were set up covering various aspects involved in a suit for dissolution of marriage. The names of the stations were: the law station, the rules station, the policy station, the case law station, the Shariat station and the customary practice station. These stations enabled students to learn various aspects that courts consider while deciding a suit for dissolution of marriage. The SR enabled the students to analyse the legal position of the hypotheticals in the light of important aspects of a suit for dissolution of marriage.
Implementation
The class was divided into seven smaller groups of five students each. 23 The groups named themselves. The names of the seven groups were: Fighters, Falcons, Sages, Ali Husnain and Company, Companions, Comrades, and Saviours. As ‘standard of practice’ (SoP) was resonating everywhere during the pandemic, it made inroads into our training too. The first SoP adopted was that before starting a new step in a trial, a demonstration of that step would be given by the instructor and the tutor. The idea of demonstration added spirit to the training, as students could comment on the demonstration given by the teachers. Another edge of the demonstration was that because each session was being recorded and available online after the actual class, students used these recordings optimally while preparing their own tasks (role-plays, simulations).
‘Unplanned joys bring the best in life’ proved true while converting a face-to-face advocacy skills training course on family laws into an online one. We started classes on Microsoft Teams with very limited knowledge about it. Along with technological glitches, the biggest challenge for teachers was to engage students. As the broadband width was not supportive of having classes with cameras on, we had to take classes with cameras off, which added salt to the injury. However, all these hurdles opened new vistas of joy.
In the first live session, I started with a general discussion about the pandemic and its psychological, social, sociological, economic, environmental and health effects, to break the ice and involve all students in the discussion. Then I tried the first role-play of a lady who accessed a law office for legal help to get her ugly marriage dissolved. This role-play took everyone to the lap of grandma in a bedtime story: because there was no picture—only the voices of the teacher and the tutor, who were role-playing a story of dissolution of marriage. Then we invited groups to role play their stories. Though it was more a child-like activity session, it brought every student on board and diluted the physical distance between the teachers and the students. It brought students out of the depression of the pandemic and isolation. The first session energized the students, and they were anxious to participate in more. Although the session was quite successful, a big question lay ahead: Without compromising the learning objective of the training, that is, learn by doing the law and procedure of a suit for dissolution of marriage, how could the physical performance be converted into virtual one?
First Step: Client Interview
The doctrinal part of the client interview was first taught in the FC as a 5-minute clip and then discussed in the online live class. The other part was the practicum. As was agreed, the first demonstration was done by the teacher and the tutor. It was based on a hypothetical developed by the teacher. To create their own hypotheticals, students were required to learn about the grounds for dissolution of marriage after working in the SR model on the station of law. The applicable law was The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939. After studying the grounds in detail, they selected a reason for dissolution of their choice to proceed with the trial. The groups selected cruelty, denouncement of maintenance, second marriage, whereabouts of the husband unknown for more than 7 years, impotency of the husband, venereal disease (HIV/AIDS [human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]) and khula (grounds for dissolution of Muslim marriage where the wife asks for dissolution in exchange for some financial benefit to the husband).
Second Step: Sorting of Facts from the Story
To teach students how information from the client interview would be used for drafting, the need was to train them in sorting facts from the stories. For this sake, a standard questionnaire was distributed among students to record the client’s history during the role-play. It was the same questionnaire used in the previous training, but for the sake of online learning, the outcomes of this exercise were recorded by the students on another template especially created for the online activity. They collected basic information about the plaintiff, the defendant, their personal information, reason for their clash, what they wanted from the court, etc. on another template to record the consolidated outcome of role-play. The purpose was to make descriptive details handier for online use. It was done by summarizing the information for quick reference for further proceedings. The template is given in Table 2.
The Form Showing Information Based on the Client Interview
Third and Fourth Steps: Legal Research
Third and fourth steps comprised researching laws, rules, Shariah, customary practices, judicial policies and case law. The exercise was done by revolving/shuffling students around the stations specified for each head. It was a very exhaustive and challenging step, because in the VLE making students sit and read/study required some creative tools through which this exercise could be monitored and assessed. It was a very exhaustive and challenging step, because in the VLE making students sit and read required some creative tools through which this exercise could be monitored and assessed. For this purpose, two standard forms were generated. In the first form, students were required to record the researched laws, rules and policies concerning the grounds for dissolution of marriage. This form is given in Table 3.
Standard Form Showing Relevant Laws, Rules and Practices for Dissolution of Marriage
In the second form, they were required to write down a summary of the case laws. Every student of each group was given cases relevant to the grounds for dissolution of marriage selected by the group. To make sure that all students were carrying out the reading assignment, this activity was kept individual. Every member of the group would carry out the research and submit the form individually. Keeping in view the nature of activity, 20% marks were allocated instead of the usual 10% for all other steps. Students were prepared for collecting resources for the purpose of drafting plaints and, later in the trial, material for preparing final arguments. The reflection of the standard form is given in Table 4.
Standard Form to Record the Contents of the Case Laws
Fifth and Sixth Steps: Drafting and Filing
After collecting information and resource material, for example, particulars of the parties, their causes of actions, prayers, the laws, rules, policies and reported case laws, the students were now ready to draft their plaints and written statements. The principles of pleadings were discussed with students before they were given the task of drafting synchronously. 24 , 25 They were provided sample drafts of plaints and written statements asynchronously. 26 , 27 The drafts were also discussed in detail by the instructor in an online class. All groups completed the drafting in three–four attempts. The first and second drafts were prepared and checked openly in the presence of the whole class, in the FC manner, but the third or/and fourth attempts were assessed through private conversations, through phone calls, WhatsApp or email.
Before filing of the drafts, students were given a list of documents to be attached with the plaint and written statements per the requirement of the relevant law. A sample of the set of compiled documents was shared with the students by the instructor, to make them familiar with the actual court file. The suits were filed in a simulated court of law. While simulating the filing procedure, the question was how to present all characters and the activities they were performing before the instructor, because cameras were off. One of the groups came up with idea of making sounds or uttering words. For example, where a lawyer presented the file to the registry, she would utter a few words to show who was sitting there. Then, the sounds of flipping papers, writing with a pen and fixing of a seal were produced to give the impression of the number of people involved in the activity and what their functions were. The conversation between them also created a real-life picture of the registry.
Seventh Step: Pretrial Reconciliation
On the first date of hearing, the parties were called for reconciliation proceedings. Reconciliation proceedings were mainly held through negotiations. The theory of negotiation skills was discussed in the FC, followed by role-play. As standard practice, after the FC on reconciliation, a demonstration was given by the instructor and the tutor. An observation form template was created to record the skills used by the instructor and the tutor in the reconciliation proceedings. The template was shared with the students. To make the skills measurable, the reconciliation skills were divided into two groups, that is, procedural and substantive. The skills were marked based on a grading key. The reconciliation observation form is given in Table 5.
Pretrial Reconciliation/Mediation Observation Form
To assess the activity, an assessment rubric was generated. The scale of skill proficiency ranged between grades A and D.
Group identity (optional)……………………………………………………………..……
Name(s) of the plaintiff(s)……………………………………………………………….…
Name(s) of defendant(s)………………………………………………………………..…
Name(s) of the judge(s)………………………………………………………………..….
Name(s) of the observer(s)…………………………………………………………….…..
Eighth and Ninth Steps: Framing of Issues and Examination in Chief
After the reconciliation proceedings, the issues were framed and communicated to the parties by the instructor. The next step was examination in chief. After discussing the principles of examination in chief in the FC, the students were given a standard observation form to prepare transcripts of examination in chief. At this stage, students required frequent meetings and step-by-step advice, because they were not yet familiar with the law of evidence. I discussed with the students about how they would like to interact frequently. They wanted more practice sessions. After some discussion, we reached the agreement that we would hold practice sessions daily before formally performing the simulation. Due to online teaching, it became very easy, because now we could hold as many meetings as we wanted without any approval of the university authorities.
To make every student participate in the training, different roles were given to the participants for specific activities. In the reconciliation proceedings, the roles were of the plaintiff, the defendant, the judge, the lawyers and the observer. The task of the observer during the activities was to observe the activity in the light of the standard observation forms. A separate grading key having a scale ranging from grade A to grade D was used to assess proficiency in the skills, and the cumulative grade was transferred to the fifth column of the assessment form, similar to the one in Table 6.
Reconciliation Proceeding Assessment Form
Examination-in-chief Observation Form
Interesting situations came up during the initial observations.
As the observers were from the same group, they would appreciate the performance of their group no matter how poorly they were performing. I observed that the role of observers was merely cosmetic. It was further confirmed when students were found contesting for this role instead of performing as lawyers or judges. I asked for suggestions from the students. We decided to mark the observers on the points of criticism only. When observers were marked only for criticism, they started indulging more in the performance per the standard forms to identify faults of their group members. This led to a very healthy observation and evaluation environment in the sessions.
Tenth Step: Cross-examination
The theory of cross-examination was discussed with the students in an FC setting, followed by preparation of a cross-examination observation form based on the main principles of cross-examination. The form was shared with the students so that they could utilize the principles while preparing cross-examination transcripts. For this activity, the roles allocated to the students were those of the witness, lawyers, judge and observer. The performance of students was assessed on a scale ranging from grade A to grade D. The cumulative grade earned based on the observation form was transferred to the fifth column of the assessment form. This form was similar to the one in Table 6.
Cross-examination Observation Schedule
Eleventh and Twelfth Steps: Final Arguments and Post-trial Reconciliation
The final argument is generally the last stage of a trial but not in family trials. According to Family Courts Act, 1964, a last opportunity of post-trial reconciliation shall be given to the parties, so that they could reach a settlement agreement. This step was skipped in the actual training at the cost of repetition of the skills learnt at the pretrial reconciliation stage. The students were prepared for the final arguments. The same pattern was followed for the last stage of trial. The students learnt the basic principles initially in the FC, and then the principles extracted from the concept after the in-class discussion were boiled down in the standard form. Like the previous activities, roles were allocated to engage all attendees of the whole group in activity. The roles for this activity were those of the lawyers, the judge and two observers. The proficiency of students was assessed on a scale ranging from grade A to grade D. The cumulative grade was transferred to the assessment form like the one given in Table 6.
Assessment Outcomes of the Training Session
The students showed quite encouraging results. The final grades for the formative and summative assessments are presented in Table10.
Final Arguments Observation Schedule
Assessment Results
Findings
My observation after implementation of the training is that BL is an upcoming methodology of learning, whether face-to-face or virtual. In the VLE, the method becomes of special importance, because it not only connects the parted friends in one chat room to work without any restriction of time or space, but it also neutralizes the hazardous effects of isolation. I especially experienced this during the training. At least three of my students were tested COVID-19-positive during classes. They did not quit classes unless their conditions were severe. Even under severe conditions, they missed just two–three classes. Right after they overcame the severe conditions, they were back in class, and with the availability of recordings of the sessions, videos used for the FC and material available after SR, they did not miss anything and coped well with the rest of the class. Interestingly, they were isolated (quarantined) from their families, but they were very much there with their classmates and teachers. A few other findings are:
Due to the effectiveness of the BL model, it is going to be utilized in the future for regular classes and training sessions through utilizing all rubrics, templates, schedules, etc. created for advocacy skills training. The FC proved to result in a good, synergizing experience. Translating principles and skills into the standard form ensured quality of the training sessions. Assessments conducted during the training sessions were graded on a scale ranging from grade A to grade D, standardized as per the regular university criteria. The BL method could be utilized for other skills training sessions and regular classes in other departments. Sharing of rubrics and standard forms and frequent contact through online tools, for example, WhatsApp, email, chat in Teams, etc., enhanced the engagement of students. The engagement of students shielded them from the scare and stresses of the pandemic. The schedule, standard forms and assessment rubrics developed for the online training saved the instructor time and energy that she would have utilized in addressing individual problems.
Conclusion
VLE in the times of Pandemic opened doors of experimentation with the existing set of teaching and learning skills; BL is one. In the times of ongoing Pandemic, Blended Learning (BL) through VLE is a salutary alternative to the traditional teaching and learning skills, saving our children from abyss of illiteracy. The article discussed an instance of online advocacy skills training where BL was successfully used. The areas of concentration from the doctrinal part of the subject were extracted, and standard forms were developed. From these standard forms, assessment forms were generated to assess the performance of the learners on a scale ranging from grade A to grade D. The FC was used to maximize student engagement. Likewise, SR was adapted by creating seven stations comprising areas of research for preparation and conduct of family trial. Student-focused learning remained the basic theme, and all available modes of online contact were utilized to maximize students’ engagement not only for the sake of learning but also to keep them busy despite the stress of the haunting pandemic. The outcomes were promising, having potential for flourishing in the future.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.