NCJ Number
225866
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 59 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 349-366
Date Published
December 2008
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined social-constructivist learning methods in Adult Basic Education (ABE) classrooms.
Abstract
Research shows that social-constructivist methods have widespread acceptance in other adult learning domains, such as Human Resource Management (HRM) education and higher education; in K-12 pedagogy; and in the penology of the European Prison Rules. This paper presents a theme that overreliance on individualized instructional methods, such as those that typify some U.S. prison schools, fosters learning environments that silence learners, encourage instrumental but not transformative learning, and create tedious classes for both students and teachers. This paper argues for the transformation of instruction in U.S. prison classrooms. This qualitative study positioned correctional educators and literacy learners in U.S. prisons as the experts; each stage of the study, design, data collection, analysis, and validation of findings was informed by social constructivist theory. This is the second component of a two part study; this second part involved a series of online discussions with 25 U.S. correctional educators conducted during the winter of 2007. Unlike the six incarcerated literacy learners profiled in part one the educators in this study did not exclusively teach in ABE classrooms, though the majority of their first students were functioning at or below the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) literacy level. References