Learning in prison: (The Learnit Memo 01/07/22)

Dear global education leader

I’ve been at the ISTE conference in New Orleans this week. Among a week of jazz, edtech and more beignets than I care to admit, the standout session was one where student voices were front and centre.

We heard from Damian, an artist who loves travelling. Denzel, a self-described “disciple of God”. And Devon, who wants to make it big as a music producer — or in oil. What made their perspective on learning unique is that all of them are products of the Louisiana youth detention system.?

Over 36,000 children under the age of 18 are incarcerated in the US, serving sentences ranging from a couple of weeks to life without parole. There are thousands more in the system waiting anywhere from 48 hours to years for their case to come to trial. On any given day, the ACLU estimates there are 60,000 young people incarcerated. Access to education services in these facilities varies by state, but the system serves children from ages 8 to 24.?

The four students at ISTE all attended Travis Hill School (THS), something of a welcome anomaly within the US prison system. At THS, students earn credits that can be transferred when they are released — which is by no means guaranteed for all incarcerated learners. And when their sentence is up, they get access to a team who works with them, their schools and their families to get them reintegrated. This, too, is rare. Without such support, things can go wrong quickly. Kat Crawford, Technology Innovator at Break Free Education (which advocates for better education provision within the criminal justice system and runs THS), shared an anecdote about a recently released student who arrived back in high school, only to be searched 17 (SEVENTEEN) times on their first day. If that degrading experience was day one, why would anyone return for day two — even if their freedom relied on that attendance?

Parole conditions also bar students from contacting anyone they met while incarcerated. This means they are unable to keep up any healthy learning relationships they have formed. And this is especially an issue when their experience of mainstream school has not been positive.?

Devon said THS was a lot better than his high school. “In a jail school, you’ve got teachers who want to give you a positive world while you’re in that spot for a couple of hours. When you’re in a regular school, you don’t get as much attention.”

That theme of being forgotten, or not being noticed, by educators until they were sent to prison ran throughout the students’ stories. Denzel asked educators to “be way more personal with your students” to understand bad behaviour better.?

Damian, meanwhile, expressed frustration that things had gotten to such a point before he found a learning space that engaged him. “It’s crazy how you’ve got to be in that dark spot just to find the light.”?

It’s easy to see why these students feel hard done by. But classroom teachers have to make hard calls, and one of the hardest is whether to prioritise a single disruptive student, or whether instead to focus on their classmates. Often, the least unfair option is to concentrate on the learning of the many. That’s a teacher’s job.?

The school’s job, meanwhile, should be to provide a safety net for every student. To do that, they cannot rely on teachers alone. Support networks — pastoral care, community outreach, mental health provisions — need funds and staffing. And school districts need to make sure they are providing that, as well as working with local prison services to provide coordinated transitions for students who need them. THS proves that it can be done, and done well.

And if we can provide support before young people reach crisis, students like Damien, Denzel and Devon might just be able to find a light to guide them without having to go to such a dark place first.???

Keep learning?

Sarah