Development of an Effective Institution Level and Individualized Inservice Program for Correctional Educators - A Personalized Selection and Evaluation System (From Correctional Education - A Focus on Success, 1983, Helen E Pecht, ed. - See NCJ-95891)

• NCJ Number: 95899
• Author(s): J S Platt; W D Wienke; B I Wolford
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The inservice education program for correctional educators outlined in this paper advocates the involvement of line staff in program planning and individualized courses designed to help staff meet their institutional duties and professional growth needs.

Abstract

Inservice education is particularly important for correctional educators because of the lack of undergraduate programs in the field, differing educational demands of different security levels, and the severe learning and psychological characteristics of the inmate population. This paper first describes a systematic method to identify skills which staff members consider vital to their professional growth and personal development, based on the Nominal Group Technique. This process enhances group sharing of individually identified needs and assists group members in reaching a consensus on priorities for inservice programs. Next, an individualized inservice plan is developed using the Q-Sort technique which originally was designed to assist in determining how an individual perceives himself and how he would like to be. Inservice programs typically bring some expert from the outside for both institution and consultant staff. The paper also looks at ways to encourage staff to identify areas of concern that could be addressed by future inservice programs and evaluation of staff progress through self-report procedures and inmate progress data. The paper includes 15 references.