My philosophy of teaching is being heavily influenced by recent research in neuroscience and in particular the place of emotion in learning.    My own research into behavioural ethics (or moral psychology) has deepened my understanding of the many non-rational influences on human behavior.  In relation to learning, I am realizing just how important it is to engage students’ emotions, if they are to learn anything of consequence and then use what they have learned in wise decision making.  I believe teachers should provide a challenging, but safe place for students to try things out: as Damasio has noted that ‘not enough emotion is detrimental to learning and so is too much’. So my aim is that students will get emotionally involved  (engaged, interested, perhaps even a bit nervous at times) in their learning.

I am conscious of the importance of providing students with opportunities to learn not just technical legal skills, but generic life skills (communicating in plain English; how to act on your values; the importance of knowing yourself and looking after yourself; team work) that will stand them in good stead whatever their career path.

I am a strong believer in problem based learning - allowing students to work through a real world problem while grappling with the knowledge and skills they need to resolve it.