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The following new research covers responses from 33 business skills tutors in prison education. It indicates that “teaching in prison can be a lonely business”.
More provision is required for networking between tutors in different institutions both ‘in’ and ‘out’.
Mobilising tutors’ innate desire to learn from one another will drive up standards.
Use of the Internet will prove a cost effective method to enable better networking between teachers of offenders.
Submitted by Dominic Murphy to the OLSU consultation process 13 July 2005. Revised 1 September 2005.
Networking is a key part of teaching teachers
Collegiality and collaboration are fundamental components of the FENTO standard of good teaching practice in further education. “Change is endemic in the sector. …[teachers] should value collegiality and collaboration to ensure the relevance and responsiveness of their learning programmes.” [From Internet WWW site URL: http://www.lifelonglearninguk.org (accessed 27/9/5)]
Collegiality and collaboration in prison education
In his review of enterprise activities in preparing offenders for resettlement in the community Del Roy Fletcher states:
“The study team have encountered major difficulties mapping current provision. … The problem reflects the difficulties gaining information from closed institutions and the fragmented nature of current entrepreneurial provision.”
[Fletcher, D.R. (2004) Reducing Re-offending: The Enterprise Option. URN 04/568. Small Business Service, Department of Trade and Industry. Available from http://www.sbs.gov.uk (accessed 31/3/5)]
Prisons do not promote open communications. There are obvious security reasons for this. Maintaining a safe prison requires the monitoring of all communications and especially those between people inside and outside of a prison.
This is one reason why the culture of sharing information between teaching professionals is not strong in the prison sector. Also, the education function in prison education is contracted out to FE colleges and other providers on a competitive basis. This further inhibits a collegial atmosphere.
There are some significant improvements that can be made to the sharing function between teachers in offender education. Improvements would support the government’s recent initiative to restructure prison education in a more integrated fashion. [A New Delivery Service for Learning and Skills. Offenders Learning and Skills Unit. From Internet WWW site URL: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/offenderlearning/init_p.cfm?ID=27 (accessed 31/3/5)]
Exploring the needs of my peers by telephone survey
When planning a practical support to collegiality, the first need is information. What do my professional colleagues in the field of Business Studies for offenders think and want?
I have submitted a questionnaire, over the telephone and by email, to a list of target respondents. The list comprises teachers drawn from conference attendees to a recent OCR FirmStart conference, the research of Del Roy Fletcher (2004) and a list supplied by the national awarding body ASET.
Information gathering is ongoing. The responses gathered so far, which are the basis for the following analysis, were gathered between 19th April 2005 and 6th May 2005. There were 33 responses.
Survey results
The interviewees are all involved in teaching Enterprise Skills. However, the results address issues relevant to all prison education. Not all of the questions asked bear directly on the question of collegiality, which is the focus of this paper. I will confine myself to reporting the results of the relevant questions. The other data will form the basis for future work.
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On a scale from 1-10, 10 much - 1 none: How much collaboration do you have with other vocational courses, such as construction training? |
Average score: 3.6 |
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On a scale from 1-10, 10 frequently - 1 never: How often do you work with the Probation Service? |
Average score: 2.7 |
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Are you able to link your students with support after their release?
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59% said “Yes” |
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Are you able to follow up to find outcomes after release? |
13% said “Yes” |
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In your opinion what is the biggest barrier to the business success of your students? Representative answers: · Lack of finance · Attitude, including unrealistic expectations · Insufficient time to complete the course
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Do you know of a user-group or other focus outside the prison for collaboration about teaching enterprise skills? |
34% said “Yes” |
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Have you found collecting content for teaching enterprise skills in prison: V Easy, Easy, Acceptable, Difficult, V Difficult? |
1 2 3 4 5 Average response: 2.5 |
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Do you regularly use email? |
75% said “Yes” |
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Do you regularly use the Web? |
78% said “Yes” |
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Would you use a website about teaching enterprise skills in prison? |
84% said “Yes” |
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May I contact you by email to keep you informed about my website for teaching enterprise skills in prison? |
95% said “Yes” |
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Going back to that scale from 1-10, 10 good - 1 bad: How would you rate your own opportunities for Continuous Professional Development? |
Average response: 5.8 |
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What would you most like to see on a website about teaching enterprise skills in prison?Representative answers:
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The main findings of the survey
As one respondent put it: "Teaching in prison is a lonely business."
Collaboration with other courses is low, with an average score of 3.6 out of 10. The score for frequency of collaboration with Probation is even lower at 2.7. This is particularly significant because the new approach to sentence planning focuses on preparing the individual inmate for successful resettlement in the community. Current policy gives responsibility for planning this process to The National Probation Service.
The lack of contact with teachers will be a problem when Probation tries to put plans into action. It is also concerning because teachers of enterprise skills in particular need to know whether the business plans, they are encouraging inmates to prepare, will violate licence terms on release. Only then can they steer their students correctly.
Only 13% of respondents have any way of monitoring outcomes, as input to evidence based action to improve and develop courses. The comments of respondents indicate that, even for those who can monitor outcomes, the practice is infrequent.
There are strong forces at work to create this state of affaires. The security regime in the Prison Service does not encourage inside teachers to communicate with ex-offenders once released. For their part, ex-offenders do not usually welcome contact with the prisons, preferring to put the experience behind them for fear of public exposure and the resultant damage to their standing in the community.
The majority of respondent tutors (two thirds of them) know of no focus outside of the prison where they can collaborate with other teachers of enterprise skills.
The average score out of ten given by respondents for the quality of their own Continuous Professional Development is an unimpressive 5.8.
There is little collaboration for teachers of enterprise skills both inside and outside prison. There is no mechanism in place for them to learn from resultant outcomes. So at present there seems to be little “to ensure the relevance and responsiveness of their learning programmes.” (Fento Standard)
On the other hand, online technology seems well placed to help build some of the missing collegiality. Over three quarters of respondents are regular email and web users. 95% of respondents were happy to give me their email address to keep them informed of a possible website.
Another respondent summarised the opportunity by saying: "It would be good to network and I am sure we all have good ideas and practices which could be shared." There was a very positive response to the prospect of a website dedicated to teaching enterprise skills in prison.
Finding resources for teaching enterprise skills was not perceived as difficult (see response to question 16). However, there was a strong desire for a library of resources and a forum for sharing new ideas. The need for case studies of outcomes was strongly represented as was information about sources of start-up funds for financing the business plans of ex-offenders.
Evaluating the potential benefits of online collegiality to the stakeholders in prison education
Looked at from the point of view of my own teaching experience, the key stakeholders in education in the context of Wandsworth Prison are the students themselves, the teachers, the prison’s education department, the prison management and the accrediting body.
Collegiality, and the wider scope for it offered by the Internet, will benefit students by resulting in improved and dynamic content authored by many. Sharing of what works should also tend to improve teaching practice, resulting in a better learning environment.
Better communication between professionals operating inside prison with those outside will assist integration of support.
Teachers will benefit for all the above reasons. The benefits include the confidence that comes from working in a group rather than in isolation, sharing best practice, easier access to teaching materials and a flow of new ideas. Also there is the opportunity to enhance their own professional reputations and life chances by “networking” and gaining credit for good work known to a widening community.
The education department and the prison will see improved accreditation results, which will impact positively on their performance in terms of Key Performance Indicators. It will also enhance their reputations through evidence of innovation in delivering best practice.
One of the biggest beneficiaries will be accreditation bodies, such as OCR and ASET. An active user group, online or not, can be a valuable sounding-board and originator of developmental ideas. An active user group can verify and develop ideas in a way that improves quality in a most cost effective way. Looked at from a marketing standpoint, an active user group is a great inducement for other teachers to adopt the course. It also advertises the course thorough word of mouth and by attracting the published comments of other institutions.
So improved collegiality and collaboration through the medium of the Internet has some significant potential benefits.
The next step
Based on the results of the survey I will create a pilot community website for my peer group of teachers of enterprise skills in prison.
