During these economic, political, and societal hard times, it is good to know that there is an organization that is dedicated to professional correctional educators–and that there is a strong group of educators that care about the successful rehabilitation of prisoners through education. The Correctional Education Association is an organization that has been established for
Now, here’s the motivational secret I spoke about earlier. In a prison setting, concrete rewards are really not allowed. But I have learned rewards and punishment can lessen the chance of self-motivation, and appreciation of learning is its own reward!
Setting goals and having control over them is an alternative to using rewards! It increases the student’s self-motivation. If a classroom offers choices in learning that demonstrate mutual respect, it is a supportive learning environment for the students, and they are more likely to self-motivate. In the long range scheme of things, isn’t that what we ultimately want for our students? Ironically, in an environment where I can offer little or no rewards, my students can learn to motivate themselves which is inherently a much more desired trait than reacting to any outside rewards or punishments.
James R. Smith
But what happens when individuals are deprived of gaining an education? He or she loses the ability to contribute to a discussion; to contribute to society; his or her ability to provide for themselves with an opportunity to be productive in their respective community once released from their confinement. The community loses out too because they will now have the burden of providing that individual with the necessities of survival. Reentering society must start within the confines of a prison by providing prisoners with the necessary education and training that will allow and enable them to re-enter society.
By James R. Smith
The failing system of education hinders everyone’s equal opportunity of gaining an education. Through education, and with the assistance of the human family, we must seek to change the attitudes and internal feelings of how people view prisoners; through legislation, we must advocate a change that will fix the failing educational system. Anyone who starts out with the conviction that the road to equality is only one lane wide will inevitably create a traffic jam and make changing the system longer. We must stand as One Person, One Voice to effectuate a change. To deprive a person, especially those who are incarcerated, of an education is wrong.
San Quentin State Prison is known for hardened criminals. Sitting on a point overlooking the lovely skyline of San Francisco in California, San Quentin has a long history. And yet within these prison walls is the Prison University Project. The mission of the Prison University Project is “to provide excellent higher education programs to people
When a student enters my class, he is taught the logistics of my teaching plan. This is a crucial step in the process as he is going through his orientation. Many students need assistance with their folders. They have difficulty organizing, setting goals and recording their progress, so I start teaching these skills as soon as they walk in the door.
They need to know they are responsible for their own learning. So, I teach each student to take a pretest for each subject and how to determine which assignment he needs to complete, based on the pretest results. Then the tutors or I take those charts I have made, and show him how to color in which assignments he determines he needs to do.
A special note is needed with this post:
The FPI Scholarship Fund is a part of a work program known as UNICOR. UNICOR is available in federal prisons in the United States.
It should be noted that I have known many inmates to apply for this scholarship and many to inquire about it, but most to no avail. Even when I was writing Education Behind Bars I couldn’t find much about it because neither inmates nor staff knew much about it.
The thrill of the horse race track! The sounds of the horses’ hooves thundering across the track to the finish line, jockeys willing their horse forward, on-lookers cheering on their favorite horse to win–and money changing hands at the end. Ah, the glamor of the horse racing industry. What happens to those horses when they
BY JAMES R. SMITH
If a person has access to the Internet or has a friend or family member that is willing to help, I have included Web Sites for the purpose of researching Scholarships , in order to help those seeking additional funding in order to take college courses or to further their college education.
Seeking Grants and Scholarships takes patience and time so do not despair if one or more places deny your request or application. Keep at it and remember, ‘Hard Work Pays Off.’ Additionally, many grants and scholarships have filing deadlines so one must be diligent in researching and meeting any and all deadlines requested by the school, organization or foundation.
BY: JAMES R. SMITH
I have been incarcerated for twelve years now and education has and always been my strongest ambition. As a former innate paralegal, I decided to expand my mind by gaining a college education, but the problem was: How was I going to pay for it? That’s the question most individuals who are incarcerated ask themselves, especially if they don’t have family members or friends to help them. Don’t despair, there are ways.
I was fortunate. A good friend of mine was willing to pay for my initial education. As a result of his kindness, I was able to obtain an Associate’s of Science Degree in Paralegal Studies.