PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 103

Mar 13, 2013 No Comments

Where a prisoner “does time” may be critical to fulfilling educational aspirations, as distinguished from satisfying his or her educational needs. That is because aspiration is the province of the individual, whereas need is the province of the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”), based on statute and regulation. All BOP institutions are supposed to have the basics–General Educational Development (“GED”), English as a Second Language (“ESL”)–because these are mandated for all prisoners in need of them based on federal statute and BOP regulations which are promulgated pursuant to those statutory mandates, as well as the less well defined Adult Continuing Education (“ACE”), library services, and parenting programs based on BOP regulation; but not the Full Educational Program (“FEP”), consisting of educational and occupational programs, which, even where mandated, are variable as to content with each institution.

To which prison a prisoner goes is determined initially by the BOP; but the prisoner has some limited ability to influence that determination. To which prison a prisoner goes thereafter is determined by request of the prisoner. This provides more opportunity for the prisoner to influence the transfer destination, if not exactly dictate it.

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 102

Mar 11, 2013 No Comments

By George Hook

As stated in PRISON EDUCATUION BASICS 101, Congress has legislated that the Bureau of Prisons provide for the instruction of all persons charged with or convicted of offenses against the United States, that pursuant to this mandate, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has provided that all its institutions must provide General Educational Development (“GED”), English as a Second Language (“ESL”), adult continuing education (“ACE”), library services, parenting, and recreational programs, and that additionally, all institutions except satellite prison camps, detention centers, and metropolitan correctional centers are to have a Full Educational Program (“FEP”).

Pursuant to that Congressional mandate, the BOP also provides occupational educational courses for all prisoners with vocational training needs at its correctional institutions, As with FEP, metropolitan correctional centers, detention centers, the federal transportation center, and administrative maximum facility are exclude from this requirement to have occupational education programs (“OEP”).

The OEP’s stated purpose is to teach specific, contemporary job skills that will permit gainful post-release employment. Skill accreditation and completion certification are an integral part of each institution’s OEP. Also, where feasible, each correctional institution’s OEP is to interface with UNICOR industries so that prisoners will have the potential for actual employment using the skill set that has been acquired.

FCI Petersburg's UNICOR Announces Scholarship Program

Feb 28, 2013 No Comments

For the past several years, I have been seeking information on the UNICOR Scholarship Program offered at FCI Petersburg. And for years, I, and other UNICOR workers, have received a cold shoulder from FCI Petersburg UNICOR staff. They have refused to provide information concerning how to apply for the scholarship program, what the program consists

Re-Socialization Through Prison Education

Feb 14, 2013 No Comments

By William R. Piper

To begin, environmental survival concerns the ability of the prisoner to sustain his wellbeing given the rigors of prevailing prison conditions. Imprisonment entails a form of secondary socialization in which prisoners have to adapt to prison as a way of life. Old modes of living are shattered and they have to adjust themselves to the deprivations of prisons. They might do this in a number of ways. The range of such adjustment entail the pains of imprisonment in which prisoners must come to grips with a new reality, a new concrete situation in which the events in the prison setting fail to corroborate their prior social experiences.

Prison conditions constitute the concrete situation in which prisoners find themselves and which they must not only survive, but which they must transform and from which they struggle to free themselves. Although constituting the prisoners concrete situation, prison conditions should not be perceived as hopeless of unalterable, but merely as limiting and therefore challenging.

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.

Who and What is Taught in Prison?

Sep 9, 2011 No Comments

So what do we teach in prison? We work on adult basic education skills for those who aren’t literate. The first goal is to reach 6th grade in reading, math, and language skills. Once reached, the next goal is to pass the GED test. Forty per cent of high school graduates in this country cannot pass the GED test. It’s not as simple as many think. So it is a major accomplishment for a man to move up to a level that allows him to pass the test. After the GED is passed, there are other educational opportunities, including vocational programs and Purdue University classes which can lead to certifications and degrees. Our vocational programs include classes in computers, marketing, horticulture, automobile repair, electronics, culinary arts, and construction trades. My colleagues and I are very dedicated to helping the men become contributors to society. This also lowers the possibility of them returning to prison.

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PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 103

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 102

FCI Petersburg's UNICOR Announces Scholarship Program

Re-Socialization Through Prison Education

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

Who and What is Taught in Prison?

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