NCJ Number
74376
Date Published
1980
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper describes legal and law-related education in an Australian jurisdiction, giving three contexts in which teachers currently function with regard to curriculum development strategies.
Abstract
Broad curriculum guidelines, teachers' own curriculum guidelines, and general education guidelines are the three contexts within which Queensland teachers develop programs for a child's total education. Each school and college is responsible for operating within these curriculum development contexts, but no legal studies courses are required per se. Studies about the law are integrated into a number of subjects and courses at various levels in the education system. Five major areas of emphasis for legal education are identified: knowledge of law; attitudes toward the law; civic competence; understanding of society through the study of its law; and development of thinking skills. Courses currently offered in Queensland schools and colleges focus on one or more of the following aspects of education about the law: legal rights of the individual; the role of law in society; legal aspects of a chosen career.