Legal Teaching Community (LTC)
The Legal Teaching Community (LTC) at Utrecht University's School of Law is where law lecturers come together to learn from one another, experiment with new approaches, and reflect on their teaching practice, with the ongoing goal to provide inspiring and impactful education, focused on more than just knowledge transfer.
In doing so, the Legal Teaching Community (LTC) implements Utrecht University's educational vision, which is characterised by teaching that is academically strong, interdisciplinary, closely intertwined with research, and in constant interaction with society.
More than knowledge transfer
During their time at Utrecht University, students develop within three interconnected domains:
- qualification (scientific knowledge, skills, and critical thinking)
- socialisation (learning to function within academic, social, and professional contexts)
- personal development (growing into independent, responsible professionals)
To achieve these goals, learning requires lecturers who look beyond their own discipline and who place active learning at the centre of their teaching. These are teachers who coach, connect, and innovate. These qualities enable them to design meaningful learning environments in which students apply knowledge, collaborate, and take responsibility for their learning process.
Within the Department of Law, the Legal Teaching Community plays a central role in this. The LTC creates a space where law lecturers come together to learn from one another, experiment with new approaches, and reflect on their teaching practice.
The LTC was officially launched in September 2025 and builds on the work of the Legal Skills Academy. In contrast to its predecessor, the LTC focuses on supporting lecturers rather than on skills training for students.
Mission and Activities
The LTC aims to support lecturers across the School of Law and to connect them with each other, so that the learning experience of students improves without increasing colleagues’ workload.
Key activities of the LTC include: bringing together knowledge and expertise in the field of legal education and making it visible to law lecturers; sharing examples of quality teaching, open educational resources, and assessment formats so that lecturers can build on them; stimulating educational innovation by supporting lecturers in applying for and carrying out educational innovation projects; and organising inspiring workshops and meetings.
The guiding principle of the LTC’s meetings is practice what you preach. The sessions are carefully designed, with inspiring, activating teaching methods that can serve as examples for lecturers’ own courses. In doing so, the LTC explicitly builds on what is already going well by drawing on the existing strengths and best practices within the Law department’s teaching.
Structure
The LTC consists of one coordinator, four Assistant Professors of Education (one per department), and several thematic clusters. These clusters focus on specific educational themes such as Community Engaged Learning, Generative AI in education, teacher development, educational innovation, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Practical Information
Are you a lecturer in the Department of Law? Teaching materials, contact information, and additional details about the Legal Teaching Community can be found in the dedicated Teams environment accessible to all law lecturers. For questions or more information, you can email ltc.rechten@uu.nl.