First session: Introductory
Dr. Seyed Masoud Noori (NYU)
An overview of the content of the first session of the course
September 20, 2020
The most important points raised in the first session:
1- The reason for inviting all registrants to attend the course
2- Introducing the partner of Roya Institute in holding this course
Empowerment Through Law of the Common People (ELCOP) is a voluntary, non-profitable, non-political, non-governmental human rights education, research, and training organization dedicated to Bangladesh’s common people. ELCOP is embracing communities for democracy, justice, and empowerment through action and participation.
The certificate of attendance will be issued with the name, logo, and signature of the Roya Institute and ELCOP.
3- A perspective on the content of the next nine sessions;
4- A brief description of the advanced course that will be held shortly after this introductory/general course.
5- Answer these questions:
A- Why do we need interactive teaching methods in general, and in law education, and can no longer be satisfied with the traditional way (teacher-centered / lecturing)?
In response to this question, Dr. Noori focused on research whose results are widely accepted by experts and institutions specializing in educational methods, like National Training Laboratory Institute on the Bethel, Maine campus. The Institute developed a pyramid during the early 1960s. He also referred to a similar pyramid, which the training institute. It said by some to have modified, was released in 1954 in a book entitled “Audio-Visual Methods of Teaching.” The book was written by Edgar Dale and was published by the Dryden Press (New York) in 1954.
B- Interactive teaching methods are usually offered in legal clinics. On the other hand, voluntary cooperation and pro bono services are among the pillars of legal clinics’ activity. But the question is why and for what motives should they volunteer?
To answer this question, Dr. Noori referred to an American psychologist, Abraham Harold Maslow (1908 –1970), who was best known for creating a hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs priority, culminating in self-actualization.
Based on the pyramid Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Dr. Noori said one of the transcendent human needs is to help all human beings and be respected and loved. At least one of the reasons people who work for free and volunteer, including law professors and students and lawyers, is to respond to their conscience and psyche’s needs. So, the real question is not why people are providing these services. In fact, it is questionable why some, although they can, don’t offer such services.