St. John’s Helps Students Get A Jump On The Law With Peer-To-Peer Learning

Finishing law school can be a challenge, but it’s the bumps on the road that really get you. Sure, you know what you have to read, but do you have a reliable study group that will get together with you to think through the rule against perpetuities in Property or how to triage constitutional protections and pressing natural security interests in Con Law? For many, those conversations are what get the gears turning, and they’re hard to have if you’re running the JD maverick because folks are either too cliquey or being social isn’t your strongest skill set. Thankfully, you’re in luck if you’re enrolled at St. John’s — they are running a peer-to-peer study program that will give you some institutional support with having the study sessions that help you think like a lawyer. From St. John’s:

Now in its third year, the Law School’s in-house tutoring program provides vital peer-to-peer support while fostering students’ sense of camaraderie and community. More than 30 tutors are available to help in about 20 subjects[.]
…
“One of the great things about having an established program now is that people who have been tutored want to become tutors themselves,” says [Kathryn Piper, Senior Director of Academic Achievement at St. John’s Law]. “I think something magical happens in the rising 2L year, where 1Ls realize they not only ‘survived,’ but they know things and want to make things better for the next set of students, or participate in programs they benefitted [sic] from in their first year. So, I’m starting to get more students asking to become tutors. I love that.”

That’s a great way to foster community that also (hopefully) nips some of the more competitive aspects of being in a law school cohort in the bud. Even if the “Be careful, someone might rip out your textbook pages!” stories are dated or apocryphal, peer tutoring is one of those institutional projects that helps foster equity and inclusion when it comes to learning. Crap, let me change that sentence before the program goes the way of the Enola Gay and Jackie Robinson. Peers helping peers turns the crab in a bucket mentality of law school into a communal effort that collectivizes learning. Damn it, can’t say that either. Students teaching students is the American thing to do — and more schools need to get with the program. There we go! Add in a little China bashing and the Trump administration may mandate it nationwide!

A Peer-to-Peer Tutoring Program Thrives at St. John’s Law [St. John’s]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.