ABSTRACT
Much has been said about decolonising the curriculum, although little change has been made. One of the stumbling blocks is not the desire or will to change – but the practicalities of redesigning teaching. This article provides a series of examples of how English contract law can be taught using a contextual approach in order to develop opportunities related to decolonisation, or more specifically the way legal colonisation occurred. It suggests that cases can be explored in depth to show the nature of colonialism and imperial law-making. This involves using the ‘law in context’ method to illustrate facts and information surrounding the case, but which may not be present in the law report itself. To do so, of course, means selecting cases carefully. More thought might be given to selecting cases that can provide information on postcolonialism and/or the British Empire, although it is equally surprising how many cases on the syllabus already can provide this information, if so wished. The practical steps needed to be taken to engage in conversations around colonisation, therefore, are perhaps less monumental than expected.
Victoria Barnes, Deborah Chay, Meryl Dickinson, Tonbara Mordi and Sally Wheeler, Contextualising the teaching of English contract law, Law Teacher. Published online: 29 July 2025.
Leave a Reply