Teaching Baxi and learning from him: the symbiotic relationship between learning and teaching

Abstract

Reflective teaching devises methodology for transacting the learning process. The creation of this methodology is largely an unspoken enterprise in India. This piece breaks that silence in tribute to Upendra Baxi, one of the most charismatic law teachers in the country. The purpose of sharing Baxi’s methodology of learning and teaching is to show how non-hierarchical learning happens and why such learning is sine qua non to mentoring students and nurturing scholarship. Good teaching practices can be replicated only if they are documented and disseminated. Such documentation can enable the institutionalisation of robust learning methods. Institutional incorporation will bring home the symbiotic relationship between learning and teaching, as well as teaching and research. This piece on Baxian teaching practices, and the lessons they impart, is an effort in that direction.