While all of us are familiar with the standard Hollywood formula movie about a teacher going into a downtrodden urban high school to turn it around (think Morgan Freeman, Michelle Pfeiffer, even Jim Belushi), nowhere are dedicated teachers needed more than in the really tough schools: America's prisons and jails.
Because prisoners cannot leave the prison facility to attend classes, when courses require professional instructors the instructors must go into the prisons to reach them. But qualified educators in prison education programs are rare to nonexistent. ABE and GED courses are often taught by prison employees or inmates, not professional instructors. Credit from these courses may not be acceptable(1) at other institutions, or by employers, although standard requirements must be met for earning a GED.
To develop advanced college-level programs in prisons, the most proven way is for prisons to partner with external institutions: local colleges and universities who are willing to send in teachers. However, because most prisons are built in geographically isolated areas, getting qualified teachers to come to the prison for on-site instruction can be difficult.
Without on-site instruction, the only other option is to teach through distance-learning technology. But this technology is not possible in prisons, because tools a normal school will take for granted are not allowed. Prisoners are barred from access to the internet, and prison libraries typically do not carry the needed materials. Even such items as rulers are sometimes considered contraband.
For teachers who are willing to teach on-site behind bars, prison security requirements impose significant constraints. Instructors and volunteers cannot enter or leave the facility easily. Clearance to come and go is difficult, and, once inside, professors often must endure extensive security procedures before reaching the classroom and again on the way out. And there is no flexibility for instructors to run even a few minutes over class time to speak individually with students because "controlled movement" in prisons allows only 10 minutes for inmates to reach their next destination once a "move" is announced. Moreover, classes can be arbitrarily cancelled (2) and work assignments and hours can be changed without notice, so the students attendance is not reliable.
These "facilities are first and foremost institutions of control and security,(3) not classrooms or schools." Prison culture and academia are diametrically opposed (4). "Prisons are closed institutions in which control is the primary concern and questioning authority is not tolerated . . . colleges and universities are theoretically open places that encourage questioning".
In addition to commuting the distance and subjecting themselves to security procedures, teachers have to adapt the courses and assignments they use on campus in order to accommodate restrictions imposed upon their prisoner-students.
Gathering prisoners with varying security classifications in one place can be tricky. Furthermore, teachers must accept frequent interruptions to students' participation in classes and students being absent for reasons beyond their control. Prisoners may be prevented from attending class because of an infraction, an upcoming parole hearing, or a visit from their attorney. Even greater barriers keep prisoners out of classes, including short stays, frequent transfers, and disciplinary or other restrictions.
If, at a time when classes are scheduled, the prison initiates a "lockdown," then prisoners must return immediately to their cells and remain. Lockdowns are a common occurrence in some prisons, sometimes lasting for weeks or months. In other prisons, they may occur only when an inmate is not where he or she is supposed to be.
It takes a lot of dedication and perseverance on the part of instructors to overcome the obstacles presented by a prison environment. They need special training and orientation to the peculiarities of prison teaching where security, not learning, has to be the priority. Many do not feel it is worth it, until they see how many prisoners are truly starved for education; that can really turn it around. Prisoner-students look to their teachers as the only people who have not given up on them, who believe in them and in their abilities. In many cases, these instructors are the last link between the prisoner-student and rehabilitation. "They don't ever want to leave the classroom," one teacher said (5). Instructors who may initially be reluctant to teach inmates discover that they are easier to work with than traditional students because they are more committed(6) to their education.
Prison educators typically subscribe to the concept of behavior by expectation, as opposed to behavior by coercive rule, which is what inmates experience in prison. Coercive enforcement produces obedience, not cooperation, and not a desire to change. Rather than impose an idea on their students as to what is good for them (either for rehabilitation or for punishment), they inspire thinking. They help the prisoner-students discover what kind of behavior is really in their self-interest.
While mindful of why their students were sent to prison in the first place, attentive prison educators also remember that these same students will return to society. There, the students will have to care not only for themselves (as they've been used to doing in prison), but will also have to be concerned for the well-being of family members they will rejoin. In developing a sense of responsibility in these prisoners, educators may be helping their students find more constructive interests in life, interests that benefit others around them as well.
Despite the obstacles, which are very real, prison education programs can be very successful. Prisoners who once saw themselves as failures learn that their teachers are not patronizing them, and they start to realize they can do it. Their entire personalities change. Many -- even those with life sentences -- are eager for learning.
Education programs can flourish behind bars when there are dedicated educators supported by prison administrators and staff. It starts with planning and training and support for prisoners so that their education translates into employment and further education after release.
Key to their success are partnerships between the communities, the prisons, local educational institutions, and local business and industry, together with ties to political leadership.
Most people don't normally know about, or think about, prison life. But budget considerations and the social cost of over-incarceration make it critical that correctional administrators, policy makers, politicians and the general public understand that a sound investment in education can reduce costs, improve security and prisoner behavior inside our prison facilities, and contribute to a much safer, more prosperous world outside.
(Adapted from College for Convicts: The Case for Higher Education in American Prisons by Christopher Zoukis (McFarland & Co., 2014).