Review

Reviewed Work(s): BEING A LAW TEACHER (2019) by Vijender Kumar

Review by: Himanshu Pandey and Manish Yadav
Source: Journal of the Indian Law Institute , OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2019, Vol. 61, No. 4
(OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2019), pp. 473-474
Published by: Indian Law Institute

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27097386

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2019] Book Review 473

BEING A LAW TEACHER (2019). By Vijender Kumar Year: 2019 Asia Law House;
1st edition, New Delhi, India. Pp. xx + 242. Price: Rs. 280.
THE BOOK under review seems to satisfy the long lasting thrust by using it as a
compass to guide the law teachers, especially young teachers or first generation law
teachers, who join law teaching immediately after completing postgraduate course.
Young generation teachers do not get enough exposure to learn and understand
teaching-learning atmosphere. Sometimes they are hesitant to discuss with their seniors
about their conflicting perception, ideas and approaches towards their professional –
life, goals and behaviour. Those who are extrovert and open to discuss their problems
with others may not always be fortunate to have a good guide, mentor or cordial
seniors and colleagues. The present book is very useful to answer varieties of question
and solution to problems, common and specific, in all law schools in India. The book
also received appreciation in the form of a foreword by Justice S.A Bobde, Chief
Justice of India. A keen attentive perusal of this writing connects the reader with the
experience of the author as teacher, administrator, and researcher and. The author has
precisely scathed his comprehensive experience, memories, perception and cognitive
analysis.
The book is divided into four chapters. Chapter one titled, ‘Facets of Teaching’ is
dedicated to ‘About Teacher’. When the teacher stands in the class room to exhibit the
knowledge and skills, he/she is perceived and analysed by the students; they observe,
analyse and imbibe teacher’s intellectual capacity, personality traits and values,
temperament and attitude.
Chapter two deals with ‘Teaching Pedagogy’, here the author argues and advocates
that teaching any subject requires interdisciplinary teaching approach with a mixture
of both theory and practical learning. This chapter provides important and useful
information about how to draft course outlines, course objectives, teaching and learning
pedagogy and learning outcome. This is a comprehensive work on how to teach any
law subject. This book is not monotonous for the readers dealing with theory alone, it
provides certain illustrations, which makes it readable and interesting as a practical
guide to teaching law subjects, this book also looks into the daily needs of the law
teachers and covers their teaching requirement from how to teach to course designing,
reading materials etc. It is made user friendly with various annexure including the detailed
course outline of family law and other such illustrations.
Effective learning requires a comprehensive approach, beginning with a curriculum
that is engaging, relevant, and clearly articulates a vision for the desired outcomes and
how to attain them. However, even the finest curricula in the world would require
effective pedagogy to successfully impart the curricular material to students; pedagogical
practices determine the learning experiences that are provided to students – thus directly
influencing learning outcomes. This book addresses these concerns in effective manner.

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474 Journal of the Indian Law Institute [Vol. 61: 4

The third and fourth chapters are the substantive portions of the book. Author in
chapters three and four, emphasized and establish argument that faculty perform best
when they are able to teach in their own innovative styles, and when they are able to
take into account their own expertise and their own knowledge of students’ needs by
linking practical aspect of the subject with theoretical aspect. These chapters give a
commendable understanding of designing course outline in standard format which
generally lacks in many institutions.
This book offers a valuable contribution to contemporary literature relating to law
teaching, providing deep insights into the interface between law and practice.
Himanshu Pandey*
Manish Yadav**

* Associate Professor of Law, Maharashtra national law university Nagpur

** Assistant Professor of Law, Maharashtra national law university Nagpur

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