Law Teacher of the Year

Rebecca Huxley-Binns, a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, became the latest Law Teacher of the Year at UKCLE’s Annual Conference in January 2010. The trophy and a cheque for £3000 were presented by Roger Burridge, UKCLE’s founding Director. In accepting the prize Rebecca said:

You can’t win Law Teacher of the Year on your own, it’s the result of a successful collaboration; with your module team and the students in the classroom, sharing ideas and inspiration; as well as the wider collaboration with colleagues at events and conferences where it is so important to talk, share, listen and learn.

This year’s other finalists were:

• Martha-Marie Kleinhans, Senior Lecturer, University of Reading
• Margaret McDonald Daw, BVC Tutor, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Victoria Murray, Senior Lecturer, Northumbria University
• Haresh Sood, Subject Leader, Department of Law, Rushcliffe Sixth Form, Nottingham

(all shown above with Rebecca) and

• Nick Jackson, Senior Lecturer, University of Kent, shown below, who was awarded the Alistair MacQueen Memorial Grant of £1,000. The grant is given to support a charitable initiative in the winner’s university or college. This year’s grant will go to the ongoing partnership between Kent Law Clinic and Canterbury Housing Advice Centre, thereby further enhancing the opportunity for Kent students to undertake pro bono work.

Law Teacher of the Year 2011

Nominations are now open for the 2011 Law Teacher of the Year award. The competition is open to all law teachers in the UK, including those in higher education, further education, the schools sector and private institutions. The law teacher in question should be currently employed by an educational institution, but can be full time or part time, fixed term or permanent.

The process of entry is nomination by email. Nominations are welcomed from work colleagues, educational institutions, students or representatives of other public or private bodies. Anyone previously shortlisted for the award is not eligible to re-enter for a period of three years. Students nominating teachers may seek input from another teacher to offer a professional perspective. The law teacher should agree to the nomination, as should the head of department.

There must be two nominating sponsors for each entrant. Full details, including the nomination criteria, can be found on the Oxford University Press website.

About the award

The Law Teacher of the Year (also known as LTOTY) is sponsored by Oxford University Press (OUP) in association with UKCLE. The award is designed to recognise the vital role that teachers play in the education of tomorrow’s lawyers, and to reward achievement in teaching – see OUP’s Law Teacher of the Year pages for further details.

Each year many extremely good and dedicated law teachers are nominated for the award, but what is excellence in law teaching? Tracey Varnava (UKCLE) reports on the search for the legal education X factor.

Previous Law Teachers of the Year

The Law Teacher of the Year award was initially conceived by the Association of Law Teachers (ALT) and supported by Cavendish Publishing:

• 2009 – Gary Watt, University of Warwick
• 2008 – Fernando Barrio, London Metropolitan University, and Alastair Hudson, Queen Mary, University of London
• 2006 – Warren Barr, University of Liverpool (Warren reflects on the honour in Musings from the Law Teacher of the Year 2006)
• 2005 – April Stroud, Southampton Institute (April describes her submission in Making sense of land law)
• 2004 – Jackie Hankins, Redborne Upper School

Last Modified: 3 September 2010