Why on Earth Should We Bother Educating Prisoners?

Dec 5, 2011 No Comments

An Australian named John Braithwaite wrote a book titled Prisons, Education and Work. His book was published in 1980. In his book, Braithwaite presented a number of very cogent and persuasive ideas concerning prisoners and education.

At the time Braithwaite wrote, the general consensus in Australia was that prisoners should not receive any benefits greater than those given to the lowest and poorest people in Australian society. In other words, if poor people didn’t have it, then prisoners certainly shouldn’t have it. Poor people didn’t have access to educational opportunities, therefore prisoners shouldn’t either. If prisoners were granted advantages equal to or greater than law-abiding citizens then something was wrong somewhere. Put simply, prisoners were to be punished, not rewarded.

The Saint Louis University Prison Program

Dec 4, 2011 No Comments

Behind the closed and locked doors of the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center (ERDCC) in Bonne Terre, Missouri, is the Saint Louis University Prison Program. This is a unique prison education program in that it is Jesuit inspired and not only provides degree programs to incarcerated prisoners, nut also to employees and staff of

The Prison Creative Arts Project

Dec 3, 2011 No Comments

Imagine being sentenced to prison and spending long days and weeks, months and years without the ability to express your creativity. Many incarcerated inmates face day to day boredom, which can contribute to an eroded sense of self-worth and confidence. The Prison Creative Arts Project was founded in 1990 whose mission is “to collaborate with

Obvious Truths We Shouldn’t Be Ingnoring Series (Part 2)

Dec 1, 2011 No Comments

By Christopher Zoukis

This is the second blog post in the ‘Obvious Truths We Shouldn’t Be Ignoring Series.’ This series is based upon eight “Obvious Truths” presented by Alfie Kohn in his “Ten Obvious Truths That We Shouldn’t Be Ignoring,” published in the September 2011 issue of The Education Digest.

“Just knowing a lot of facts doesn’t mean you’re smart.”

As with the first post in this series, the fact that useless memorization is ineffective means that we – as educators – need to focus upon our students’ overall understanding, not specific memorized facts. This is because a student can be filled with facts, yet be lost when it comes to connecting the facts and finding “inventive and persuasive ways” of solving problems.

Providing College To Prison Inmates Series (Part 7)

Nov 28, 2011 No Comments

This is the seventh and final blog post in the ‘Providing College To Prison Inmates Series.’ This series is based upon seven “Recommendations for Policy and Practice” presented by Contardo on pages 154 through 156 of her text Providing College To Prison Inmates.

“Articulate the benefits of college for prison inmates so that outsiders can understand.” –Contardo (pg. 156)

While the above quote refers to securing support for correctional education, I feel that this is not the correct way to solicit outside support of these programs. This is because the American people don’t want to know how much more they can spend to help a prisoner – someone who broke the law – or how spending this money will help the prisoner. If anything, the American people want to know how correctional education benefits them. They want to know why they should mentally buy-in to the idea of educating prisoners. As such, this blog post is based upon the benefits of prison education to the American people. Though, the benefit of the American people coincides with the benefit of the incarcerated student, too. It’s a win-win situation.

Obvious Truths We Shouldn’t Be Ignoring Series (Part 1)

Nov 22, 2011 No Comments

As one of my professional development tasks, I read all I can on education, student development, and better practices for teachers. I do so because I’m not a formally educated instructor. I’m a guy who made some bad decisions when I was a senior in high school. Hence, I came to prison. And, it was here that I hit my educational stride, both in terms of teaching and learning.

The other day I was reading the September 2011 issue of The Education Digest and I came across a terrific piece by Alfie Kohn entitled ‘Ten Obvious Truths That We Shouldn’t Be Ignoring.’ In this essay he notes obvious truths such as memorization not being all that it is cracked up to be, that knowing a lot of facts doesn’t make a person smart, and that students are more likely to learn what they find interesting than what they don’t.

Providing College To Prison Inmates Series (Part 6)

Nov 21, 2011 No Comments

This is the sixth blog post in the ‘Providing College To Prison Inmates Series.’ This series is based upon seven “Recommendations for Policy and Practice” presented by Contardo on pages 154 through 156 of her text Providing College To Prison Inmates.

“Document successes and failures.” –Contardo (pg. 156)

So far we have discussed how to implement programs, the challenges with doing so, and several models to follow. Now let’s take a look at measuring successes and failures, and developing a body of research that may facilitate other correctional educational programs.

A Curmudgeon and a Tattooed Screamer

Nov 18, 2011 No Comments

To motivate the students, it is important to figure out the real meaning for their attitudes. It helps with motivation and with classroom behavior, which are intertwined.
Mr. Lopez* was meaner than a snake. He was probably in his fifties, and he was an old curmudgeon. I could not break through to this man to get him to do any work. He didn’t see the value of studying, and was snotty to me all the time.

Finally, Mr. Lopez ended up leaving school. I can’t remember if I ended up throwing him out because he wasn’t producing, or if he quit. But it taught me a lesson; I thought this man had a really ugly heart and was very mean-spirited. I totally misunderstood his behaviors.

Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility Graduates 25 Boys

Nov 16, 2011 No Comments

At the end of October 2011, twenty-five teenage boys earned their high-school diplomas while being held at Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana. The teens earned their degrees through Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility’s Vantage Pointe Learning Center. Many of these teenagers are high-school drop-outs and without a GED, have little chance of finding a job

StraighterLine.com: A Model for College-Level Correctional Education Programs?

Nov 15, 2011 No Comments

Long has the battle of how to cost-effectively educate the incarcerated waged on. On one side of the post-secondary correctional education debate, there are those who prefer to focus upon vocational training for those in prison. Supporters say job training is what is needed.

On the other side of the post-secondary correctional education debate, there are those who prefer to focus upon academic education for the incarcerated. Supporters say an academic liberal arts education will allow participants to learn how to think.

News

Why on Earth Should We Bother Educating Prisoners?

The Saint Louis University Prison Program

The Prison Creative Arts Project

Obvious Truths We Shouldn’t Be Ingnoring Series (Part 2)

Providing College To Prison Inmates Series (Part 7)

Obvious Truths We Shouldn’t Be Ignoring Series (Part 1)

Providing College To Prison Inmates Series (Part 6)

A Curmudgeon and a Tattooed Screamer

Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility Graduates 25 Boys

StraighterLine.com: A Model for College-Level Correctional Education Programs?

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