A Report On Education In Prison Education Essay

A Report On Education In Prison Education Essay Prison education has been described as the Cinderella of UK education (Grubb, 2005) and it is the sector which I began working in two and a half years ago in my first teaching post. In common with other new teachers I was enrolled on a Cert. Ed. course at my local college, however it quickly became apparent that the challenges which I faced within this environment were different from those encountered by my mainstream FE colleagues and that the training and guidance which I received as part of my Cert. Ed. studies, though useful for many aspects of my work, was not sufficient to prepare me to teach effectively a cohort containing large numbers of students with either a lack of interest in, or an innate hostility towards, education. This essay will seek to identify how this environment differs fundamentally from mainstream further education, and will consider these differences affects offender learning. It will examine the causes and effects of widespread disaffection and consider me thods of reengagement and control. Finally the consequences of allowing a cohort containing large numbers of students with specialised needs to be taught by generically trained teachers will be considered. Custodial education is viewed as an adjunct to the prison’s primary purpose of secure containment (Irwin, 2008; Wilson and Reuss, 2000) and Simonot, Jeanes, McDonald, McNicholl and Wilkinson (2008) highlight the elementary issue that within the custodial setting the principle identity of those participating in education is that of offender rather than learner. This conflictual definition influences all aspects of prison learning and limits the ways in which prison teachers can seek to reengage the disaffected. The regime in prison is strictly enforced, rigid, unaccommodating and therefore uncomplimentary to learning; further the student profile presents additional challenges to the prison teacher with the presence of extensive and significant educational needs. It is parad oxical that such a diverse cohort of students should be situated within an environment which is essentially antithetical to learning and these elements combined mean that (Simonot et al., 2008, p.7). Furthermore, prison education must answer to two masters, the Learning and Skills Council and the Prison Service, and this situation leads to inherent tensions as the operational requirements of the prison must often take precedence over learning. These factors, combined with the isolation which teaching staff may feel as ‘guests’ within a total institution, produce a learning culture which differs greatly from that experienced in general further education. Research shows that 49% of male and 33% of female prisoners were excluded from school, with 52% of men and 71% of women having no qualifications at all. Additionally, high numbers (65% numeracy, 48% Literacy) have basic skills at or below Level 1 (Bromley Briefings, 2009, p.16). But the challenge for prison education is greater than merely raising the basic skills level of a significant proportion of the inmate population, the reasons behind this lack of achievement must be understood if prison educators are to teach effectively. Within the prison population 20-30% of inmates have learning disabilities or difficulties (Ibid., p.3) with 7% having an IQ of less than 70 and a further 25% with an IQ lower than 80(Ibid., p.35); dyslexia is three times more common than in the general population (Ibid) and since there is no systemised procedure for identifying those prisoners with learning disabilities or difficulties their needs are frequently undiagnosed and unmet (Talbot, 2008, p.63). Additionally, high numbers of inmates suffer from mental health problems; 70% of sentenced prisoners suffer from at least two mental health disorders, and within this group large numbers have a psychotic disorder (Bromley Briefings, 2009, p.37). Finally 75% of inmates have a dual diagnosis of mental health issues combined with drug or alcohol misuse (Ibid., p.39).