Recently, Jesse H. Choper, Earl Warren Professor of Public Law, Boalt Hall School of Law was invited to speak to a group of federal judges. One of those judges, who had been a student of Choper's 30 years ago, says, "At the conclusion of his remarks, I told him what I never thought I would hear myself saying, that listening to him speak made me actually miss being in law school."
Choper explains some of his teaching this way: "I take time in the opening class to describe my approach and why I use it, emphasizing that my purpose in pressing students hard in response to their views is not to make them look dull but rather to indicate the great complexities of the problems, most of which have no real 'solutions.'"
A former student comments on this technique: "He is well known for getting a student so tied up in a logical conundrum that the student ends up advocating a position diametrically opposed to the original premise. At the same time, the student manages to appreciate the predicament in which he now sits and can laugh at himself for becoming entangled in a Socratic knot."
Time and again, students and former students point to his combination of intellectual openness and rigor: "He engaged intellectually with each student during the semester. I'll never forget the line, 'What's your point?'" says one. And another says, "He made all ideas and viewpoints welcome. We struggled. We pondered. We laughed (a lot)."
One of the nation's foremost authorities in Constitutional Law and
Corporation Law, and Vice President of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Choper joined the School of Law in 1965. He received his B.S.
from Wilkes University and his LL.B. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Statement Of Teaching Philosophy
As is inevitable, I have made various changes in my teaching style over what is now a 40 year experience. Perhaps because age increases confidence, if not wisdom, my lectures to the judiciary, bar and general public have become somewhat lighter and less complicated, sacrificing absolute precision in favor of clearer understanding and maintaining audience attention. Greater modifications have occurred, however, in connection with my basic Law School courses.
Although I never adopted or approved of the "Professor Kingsfield/Paper Chase," embarrass/intimidate form of law teaching, my earlier classes tended to be mainly "Socratic." I relied on a method of continued questioning of students in order to elicit from them a statement of the relevant legal principles and the underlying competing policy considerations. While I periodically indicated my own views about various points made, I left most issues -- what the law "is" and what it "should be" -- for the students to resolve on their own.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the greatly improved academic qualifications of law students and my overall experience led me to depart somewhat from the traditional Socratic model.
Instead of just beginning the course with questions about the first assignment, I now take time in the opening class to describe my pedagogical approach and explain why I use it, emphasizing that my purpose in pressing students hard in response to their views is not to make them look dull but rather to indicate the great complexities of the problems, most of which have no real "solutions."
Instead of starting each class by drawing the basic legal doctrines from the students, I now ordinarily spend the first 10-15 minutes explaining what the law is and highlighting the ambiguities. Then, in order to take advantage of the greater sophistication of the current student body, I open the Socratic discussion with the more difficult task of seeking to uncover the policies and premises at the core of the issues.
Rather than using the Socratic dialogue to surprise students with counterarguments and hypothetical cases that they had not considered, I distribute a detailed "lesson plan" that states the basic questions that I plan to pursue during each class. Instead of calling on students with no forewarning, I now proceed across each row to those who do not otherwise volunteer, thus enabling them to prepare more thoroughly when they anticipate having to respond.