Vinitika Vij is an Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School (OP Jindal Global University) and a PhD candidate at UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice. In this post she articulates a teaching approach which combines teaching critique with building student confidence through kindness in the classroom.
What is language of education at your law school and why does it matter? What impact does the language of education have on students鈥� understanding of law and their career paths?
I teach at Jindal Global Law School in India. The medium of instruction is English, which is also one of the most practised professional languages in the country. The language of the courts is varied, however. District and Sessions Courts in the country usually practise in regional languages, which are different among states. For example, while in Delhi, such courts may practise in both Hindi and English, similar courts in Karnataka or Maharashtra, for example, which are two of the other twenty-eight states in the country, mostly practise in their regional languages 鈥� Kannada and Marathi respectively. However, legislations are primarily drafted in English, and the Supreme Court (the highest court in the country) only practises in English. Corporate law firms also primarily operate in English. Thus, there is a significant benefit in attending an English medium law school, but students who intend to be litigators practising in lower courts may lose out to a slight extent.
The student body is not homogeneous in terms of their regional demographics, which impacts their ability to learn and communicate in English to an extent. The law school is located in Haryana, and several students come from rural areas of this state. I have noticed that some of these students do face more struggles in class participation and clear articulation while writing compared to students from metropolitan cities. The exams are usually hypothetical question-based or essay-based, and marks are awarded based on clarity of language, structure, reasoning, and knowledge. Some of the rural students in past have struggled with clarity and structure, often losing out on marks in the initial years. However, I have also noticed that many of them are able to improve on these issues over time with assistance from the faculty.
Why did you decide to become an academic and why did you specialise in international law?
While I went to law school thinking I would be a hot-shot corporate lawyer and working on big transactions, my creative ambitions took over this dream. From the first year onward, I became involved in moots and research projects that made me see the creative side of law school: dealing with difficult cases, bringing in interdisciplinary lenses to adjudge good law, and designing creative arguments using doctrinal methods. These early experiences made me more interested in researching than practising in courts or being a corporate lawyer.
Further, interestingly, my classroom experiences as a law student made me interested in teaching at a law school. While I was not appreciated much as a student in my high school, my law school teachers were very appreciative of the potential they saw in me, which helped me gain confidence and work harder. I could sense the single-handed impact a small act of kindness in a classroom could have on a student. I wanted to replicate that, pay it forward, and learn more ways of impactful knowledge dissemination.
I chose international law more for its challenging demeanour than the subject matter. To me, this field seems like an assemblage of great ideas with flawed executions in some capacity, and problematic ideals with a global reach. Both these complexities make it a very interesting field to study, providing a lot of dimensions to take a deep dive in. Additionally, I further enjoy teaching international law in an Indian classroom, showcasing the geopolitical impact of the superpowers on both the formation of international law and its effect on developing countries. It makes for an interesting experience to teach from an othered country鈥檚 point of view, to some extent, outside of the global north perspective.
What have been the key influences on your teaching practises?
Specifically, I ensure that I always perform two functions in a classroom: 1) teach students how to critique, especially while teaching international law in the global south, and 2) make my classroom a safe space for all ideas and perspectives.
I learnt the art of disseminating critiques in a classroom through on the SVS Metaphor for human rights. In this paper, Mutua is able to make a very complicated critique of globalising the global north鈥檚 human rights very accessible to readers; to make everyone appreciate the ironies of the Global Human Rights project. I first learnt the power of using specific examples while teaching abstract ideas through this paper, and have since ensured that I utilise this tool while teaching how to critique both generally and specifically.
It was also important for me to ensure that every student in my class should feel comfortable speaking up. In an Indian law school, students often come from a variety of backgrounds and have been brought up with differing perspectives about society and politics. However, I do believe that allowing space to each person in a class provides them with the opportunity to reflect on their thoughts and ideas at a deeper level. They may not find themselves in spaces that welcome them to air their raw thoughts and ideas, though. That is why I find it important to create that space for them, so that they feel comfortable while speaking their mind and gaining the ability to reflect through discussions and criticisms done in a manner that does not attack their confidence.
Image: Author’s image. Taken at the DR LM Singhvi Global Conference on International Law and International Relations at the Global Law Schools’ Summit, OP Jindal Global University 2022.