During the past few years, Aberystwyth University, along with Coleg Cambria, in Mid and North East Wales respectively, have sought to develop a professional teaching qualification that not only meets the requirements of the teaching staff in a large Further Education institution but also prepares and qualifies prison staff for teaching in that unique environment. 

The development of such a broad course has meant a clear focus on the essentials of teaching and learning, with the opportunity for each trainee teacher to develop their personal and often unique subject specialism.  Developing a course suitable for teachers of aeronautical engineering or of childcare has been challenging but the additional constraints of teaching within a prison environment has meant that the FE teaching course developed has needed to be exceptionally focussed and flexible at the same time.

Whilst the course has provided a grounding in essential teaching theories and practice, the requirements of the prison teaching staff has meant the development of an unique Offender Learning module, which provides an overview of the distinctive policy context and environment within which these trainee teachers work.  It has sought to address the ever-changing legislative frameworks, the organisational and institutional structures as well as addressing personalised, rehabilitative learning journeys of individuals.  Of course, there has been a need to consider the craft of working safely within a prison environment.

In the roll out of the new programme, a number of interesting considerations have come to the forefront:

Use of Teaching Technologies

One of the biggest challenges faced by the trainee teachers is the limited possibility of using technology for the enhancement of the teaching and learning experience.  Internet access and the availability of technology is extremely limited, for obvious reasons, but this does then impact on the nature of the teaching and learning available within the confines of the prison.  

This proves a difficulty in the general provision of the PCET course, where the recommendation of resources and opportunities for digital learning need to be adapted significantly for those working in the prison.  The teaching staff on the course are mindful to use both technology and non-technology based resources to enable learners to adopt different approaches when delivering within and outside the prison learning environment.  There is thus a requirement for prison trainee teachers to be very creative in their development of resources.

Session structures

Although people’s perception of the institutionalised nature of a prison system may mean that they believe that sessions will be clearly structured within defined timescales, this is not always the case.  Oftentimes, learners within the prison will not all arrive at the same time for a session.  This then needs to be planned for, particularly in the light of the potential behaviour issues that may arise if there is limited opportunity for engaging activities. 

Trainee teachers therefore need to have a range of pre-planned learning strategies to engage learners as soon as they arrive to minimise potential problems, before the start of the session. This, as one can imagine, would be a challenge for experienced teachers, let alone those who are in the infancy of their careers. 

Furthermore, planning an overall structure of the session often may not be suitable since each learning strategy needs to be planned effectively to include opportunities for developing and applying skills and knowledge to accommodate learners arriving mid-way through. Trainee teachers thus are supported with planning and adapting their sessions to meet the needs of all the learners.

Mental health and additional learning needs

It is well reported that mental health difficulties and additional learning needs are high within the prison population. This clearly presents a challenge for those who are beginning their teaching career, with the need for specific and appropriate support for each individual.  An additional difficulty, however, is that not all the inmates have been diagnosed and thus there is additional pressure on the trainee to identify and meet the most significant needs and adapt their practice to suit all the learners present. 

All the trainees have the option of taking a module on Equality, Diversity and Inclusive Practice which provides them with an overview of the characteristics of a variety of additional learning needs and how theory and best practice can be used to address them. PCET lecturers are also clearly available throughout the course to embed strategies within the PGCE to try to support them in dealing with the individual learner needs. 

Prison education provides for those who have very specific pressures and stresses – lack of freedom, limited rights and limited choice - all of which can contribute to the issues relating to mental health. Consider the scenario of an autistic learner and sensory overload. If a teacher isn't aware of the concept of sensory overload and how to support learners appropriately then the common response from a learner would be negative behaviours - not ideal in a prison environment!

Subject Specialism

Many trainee teachers currently working within the prison environment are teachers of subjects that may not be traditionally taught in the FE sector and thus there is limited support from peers and, on occasion from mentors. They may be currently the only subject specialists in their area of learning and therefore their main support is from the PGCE team alone.

The PGCE team support by providing opportunities to observe other lecturers within the college whenever possible and the integrated nature of the course itself, where all subject specialists learn together, enable that cross-fertilisation of ideas beyond subject silos and beyond the boundaries of the restricted environment.

Prysor Davies is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Learning and Teaching in the School of Education at Aberystwyth University.  He is the Programme leader for the franchised PCET-PCE course at Coleg Cambria and has been significantly involved in the programme’s development.  He teaches across a range of undergraduate modules and is involved in research, teacher training at all levels and quality assurance.

You may also be interested in reading:

Using sport to promote adult learning in our prisons, Part 1 (blog)

Mentoring in prison has given me courage (blog)

Cardiff City FC Community Foundation Prison Engagement Programmes (blog)

Using music as a tool for development, education and rehabilitation (blog)