In COVID-Era Law School, the New Boss Is the Same As the Old Boss
As law students around the country return to the classroom this week and next, they face many challenges that seem unique to the COVID-19 era. In addition to the typical stresses of law school, students must navigate public health orders that seem to shift by the hour; course delivery methods that use unfamiliar or confusing technology that can obfuscate the underlying legal doctrine; and relationships with peers and professors who may be tentative or confused while working behind the virtual and physical barriers in place to manage the pandemic.
These challenges seem unique and insurmountable. But they are species of the same challenges law students already faced every day under “ordinary” conditions. Students can overcome them with the same skills they have already developed to succeed in law school.
First, navigating shifting public health protocols can make students feel like their desks are mounted on quicksand. Whiplash from changing distancing, masking, and contact tracing requirements causes more neck pain than PowerPoint slides in size 10 font. But the shifting requirements to interact in person are striking similar to the substantive legal doctrine students must learn in those classes. Core concepts in nearly any legal discipline, from constitutional law to intellectual property, are in flux over time. Students must be mentally pliable, accommodating and understanding how doctrine evolves over time. To manage changing public health orders without stress, students can lean on the very same skills they have used to adjust to uncertainty in the materials they are studying.
Second, course delivery methods rely more and more upon new technologies and platforms. The variation between the different tools for presenting material and the ways different professors utilize them can distract students from the complex information those tools are designed to deliver. But even when technologies are stabler, students must adjust to the rhythms of different classrooms. Professors play to their strengths as instructors, relying on some pedagogical techniques that others might ignore. Part of the game of law school is for students to adjust their approach to each professor’s style of presentation and assessment. Though technology adds a different wrinkle to that game, the basic rules are the same. As always, students must tailor their approach to each class and communicate with instructors to jointly optimize their learning. That team-based approach, with professors and students united to conquer difficult material, is vital to success no matter how a course is delivered.
Third, personal relationships are under constant strain from the pandemic, to the detriment of study groups, office hours, and even formative assessment. When all parties are uncertain how to interact safely, they may choose to reduce interacting at all to avoid confusion and stress. But we can conquer these divides with the same basic humanity that students and professors rely upon to overcome the generational and political chasms that often separate us. Seeing everyone as human, acknowledging their differing challenges and lived experiences, and approaching interactions with fundamental respect for the dignity of others is vital, no matter how relationships are built. When students and professors rely on that shared humanity, they can overcome the fear and uncertainty of the COVID era and learn to enjoy building relationships again.
As professors and students today, we must overcome these challenges; we have no other choice. But the good news is that we have the skills we need to push forward and be successful. As much as COVID-19 has changed the learning environment, we can rely on what we know to get through what is new.