Certain Sociological Characteristic Differences in the Correctional Education Learners and the Public School Learners - Reflection of Teacher Education for Correctional Education

• NCJ Number: 80526
• Journal: Journal of Offender Counseling, Services and Rehabilitation Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1980) Pages: 85-93
• Author(s): G S Norde
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. This paper was presented at the 7th Annual Conference of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice.

Annotation

The ethnicity and age of learners in correctional education (prison) and learners in the public schools are compared, and implications for the training of correctional educators are discussed.

Abstract

While the public schools draw their students from a population that is only 22 percent nonwhite, the prison population consists of 51 percent ethnic minorities, with blacks composing 49 percent of the minority prison population. This indicates that those in prison education programs are more ethnically diversified than are pupils in the public schools. Since teacher education institutions prepare their graduates to teach in the public schools, little attention is given to the specialized training required to teach those whose behavioral manners, values, perceptions, and ways of learning are different from the dominant ethnic groups. Further, while the estimated age range of the public school population is 5 to 17 years, the age range of learners in prisons is from 18 on up. Educators and correctional administrators should be aware that teaching in correctional institutions is a highly specialized form of teaching dictated by the ethnic and age characteristics of the learners. Educational and training programs should be established to ensure that those teaching in correctional institutions are prepared to adapt teaching methods and classroom interaction to the characteristics of the learners. Seven reference notes and 11 references are provided.