ABSTRACT
Subversion is often thought of as upsetting a current status quo. The current status quo in legal education research includes certain patterns of focus on doctrine, relationships with the profession, the idea of professionalism, the idea of market etc. This chapter considers teaching as subversive activity in relation to developing the student’s mind. One technique of subversion is based on the recognition that emotion has a place in both law and learning. Descartes’ legacy of the split between mind and body needs to be subverted now. That split has fed the notions of objectivity, universality and neutrality, which have their place but should not be treated as the only approach to law and reason. The emotions involved in teaching and learning include the love of the subject matter, the relationship between students and teacher, the eliciting of surprise, which is one of the most effective ways of teaching students, and the use of felt emotions to assist analysis and evaluation.
