Legal Literacy in Teacher Education Programs: Conceptualizing Relevance and Constructing Pedagogy.

Civil and criminal suits involving teachers exact a tremendous toll, both professionally and personally. Arguably, the best defence to potential litigation is knowing and understanding one's legal rights and responsibilities. he literature suggests that at present, teachers' legal literacy is insufficient. As a result, teacher education programs need to provide pre-service teacher candidates with a sound theoretical and practical background in education law. Typically, this is achieved through stand-alone courses, or by addressing legal issues as part of a broader survey course. In either case, one of the key elements instructors must address is how they will disseminate the material. This mixed-method study draws on several components: an anonymous survey (n=38), individual interviews with pre-service teacher education students (n=5), current research, and the authors' experiences teaching education law. The authors argue that case studies are a cogent teaching tool to help pre-service teachers appreciate how law affects public education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]