Legal Education, Innovation and Practice

Dr Stella Coyle has led the development of Legal Essentials, Keele Law School’s innovative approach to induction and legal skills. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has a keen interest in legal education and student wellbeing – particularly at the point of transition to higher education.

Stella has presented her work at the Association of Law Teachers conference and has been an invited speaker at events held by the Legal Education Research Network (LERN); Connecting Legal Education; and Advancing Wellness in Law.

She has publications forthcoming in The Law Teacher Special Edition: Legal Education for Well-Being: Design, Delivery and Evaluation and in the collection edited by Jess Guth and Jennifer McCloy, Empowering Law Students.

Stella previously trained as an integrative psychotherapist, which included work at a university counselling service. This experience has informed her current research into Shame and the Law School: Observation, Relationship, and the Developing Self.

Stella currently supervises Aysha Mazhar, PhD candidate researching compassion in legal academia.

Sonja draws on her experience as a solicitor to help students widen their understanding of legal theory. Using the vehicles of both the Commercial Legal Advice Clinic and life-like assessment methods in the Civil Litigation module, she seeks to embed experiential learning into her teaching. Sonja is a Fellow of the HEA.

Aysha Mazhar is a doctoral researcher who is currently researching the manifestations of compassion in legal academia of England and Wales. She is particularly interested in the working lives of the legal academic and how compassion can exist in the more visible facets of the academy, such as law teaching and legal research but also in the more hidden, underappreciated sides, such as emotional labour, pastoral care, and the academic self. Aysha is supervised by Dr Stella Coyle, the Legal Education, Innovation and Practice Cluster Lead.

Aysha has written numerous reviews that are published across British Journal of Educational Studies, Educational Review and The Law Teacher:

• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Learning Resource Review: Biopolitics and structure in legal education’, The Law Teacher. pp. 1-2 (Online First) https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2023.2288414
• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Learning Resource Review: Biopolitics and resistance in legal education’, The Law Teacher. pp. 1-3 (Online First) https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2023.2288409
• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Book Review: Writing well and being well for your PhD and beyond: How to cultivate a strong and sustainable writing practice for life’, Educational Review. pp. 1-2. (Online First) https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2023.2265259
• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Learning Resource Review: Wellbeing and transitions in law: legal education and the legal profession’, The Law Teacher. 57(4), pp. 572-524. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2023.2275494
• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Book Review: Practising compassion in higher education: caring for self and others through challenging times’, British Journal of Educational Studies. 71(4), pp. 468-470. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2023.2218023
• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Learning Resource Review: Wellbeing and the legal academy’, The Law Teacher. 57(2), pp. 237-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2023.2193537
• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Learning Resource Review: What is legal education for? Reassessing the purposes of early twenty-first century learning and law schools’, The Law Teacher. 57(1), pp. 101-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2022.2153313
• Mazhar, A. (2023) ‘Book Review: The doctoral journey as an emotional, embodied, political experience: stories from the field’, British Journal of Educational Studies. 71(1), pp. 119-120. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2022.2107735
• Mazhar, A. (2022) ‘Learning Resource Review: Doctoral degree programs in law: an international and comparative study of the English-speaking world’, The Law Teacher. 56(4), pp. 554-556. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2022.2076492
• Mazhar, A. (2022) ‘Learning Resource Review: Better law for a better world: new approaches to law practice and education’, The Law Teacher. 56(3), pp. 427-428. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2021.1997325
• Mazhar, A. (2022) ‘Learning Resource Review: American legal education abroad: critical histories’, The Law Teacher. 56(2), pp. 300-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2021.1989559
• Mazhar, A. (2022) ‘Book Review: Refiguring universities in an age of neoliberalism: creating compassionate campuses’, British Journal of Educational Studies. 70(2), pp. 257-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2021.1977548
• Mazhar, A. (2021) ‘Book Review: Towards the compassionate university: from golden thread to global impact’, British Journal of Educational Studies. 69(6), pp. 795-797. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2021.1936867
• Mazhar, A. (2021) ‘Learning Resource Review: Key directions in legal education: national and international perspectives’, The Law Teacher. 55(1), pp. 105-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2020.1776007

Assessment and Feedback in Law

Project Leaders:

• Stella Coyle (LEIP Cluster Lead)
• Mark Davys (UG Programme Director)
• Lara McMurtry (Director of Education)

Building on the Law School’s participation in the Advance HE collaborative project on Assessment and Feedback in Law, the School will engage in a comprehensive, pedagogically informed, programme level review of UG assessment and assessment strategy. Co-ordinated by The School’s Education Committee, engaging colleagues within the School’s LEIP Cluster, and fostering student contribution from the outset, the project will aim to remodel assessment and feedback policy and practice in Law, focusing explicitly on student progression and attainment and equality of opportunity for learners from underrepresented backgrounds.

The project is funded by Keele’s Teaching Innovation Projects Scheme.