Sally Andersen
Faculty of Law
A classroom agreement encourages everyone to speak up
Sally provides a range of options for students to participate and speak up in class.
How do you help students build confidence, not just knowledge?
Students in my classes all enter into a classroom agreement at the beginning of the semester so that students feel comfortable speaking up. I encourage everyone to be involved. I welcome students to raise questions, and I provide different avenues for getting involved.
I also regularly check in with my classes. For example I use the Padlet online noticeboard so students can tell me how they are going anonymously, and they can see that others feel the same or have the same issues. By working in groups students also gain confidence, learning from their peers and testing ideas.
What do you hope your students take away from their time with you?
I hope students will take with them a love of the law and an awareness that they can be legal changemakers. I also would like them to feel a sense of accomplishment, that they have completed their first law unit or clinical placement, and that they had the opportunity to do their best and that they did their best. I would like students to take away a confidence that they can do law and they are in the right place.
I want to invoke in students the passion I feel for the law. I love trying new ideas and getting feedback from students. ”
Is there a student moment you’ll never forget, and why?
Going on the Monash Global Immersion Guarantee to Fiji and watching the impact of learning about climate change on students. It was so rewarding to watch the student presentations, some using Fijian language and music, and hearing their views on the impacts of climate change. It was very inspiring, giving me hope for future generations.
What legacy or ripple effect do you hope to leave behind?
My passion for the law and for teaching. That all students can be legal changemakers. There are so many opportunities for law students and they should take advantage of all of them. I love to see my students taking on the world, becoming lawyers, law reformers and teaching law.
What motivates you to continue pushing boundaries in your work?
I want students to enjoy their learning and have fun with it. I want to invoke in students the passion I feel for the law. I love trying new ideas and getting feedback from students. I want them to feel connected and part of the faculty.
What does being a teacher allow you to do that nothing else can? Was there a moment you realised that your work as an educator goes beyond what happens in the classroom?
It gives me the great privilege of inspiring young minds. I love teaching first year law students as they are so excited to be in law and to learn about the law, and I feel inspired by their excitement. I am lucky enough to be able to get them ready for their journey ahead through the law. In the clinical program I am involved in law reform, and again I am privileged to be able to guide young people and open their eyes to what they can do to change the law, make justice more accessible and how individually they can have an impact.