Malawi Prison Service offers correctional education programmes to the incarcerated individuals as a vital component of crime fighting strategy. Although the role of correctional education is to fight crimes, relapse in criminal behaviour which results in the re-incarceration of ex-offenders continues to be a predicament, thereby questioning the…

This paper critically discusses two London-based "Learning Together" prison university partnerships--Middlesex University with Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Wandsworth and London South Bank University (LSBU) with HMP Pentonville. The paper documents how students experienced the shared classroom learning approach designed on principles of…

Prison education is often cited as the only redeeming experience in an otherwise cruel environment. While educational programs are found in prisons across Canada, they are often guided by philosophies of punishment, risk, and security rather than more transformative frameworks. In addition to prison staff and management who struggle to find value…

In 2019, The Open University (henceforth, The OU), based in Milton Keynes in the UK, celebrated its 50th anniversary. Since 1971 it has pioneered the delivery of Higher Education in prisons and other secure settings. Some 50 years on, in 2021 there is much to celebrate and still more to learn. In this article we briefly review the establishment of…

This article reflects on the authors' experiences and those of their students in teaching and learning during a Learning Together course on The Good Life and the Good Society (GLGS) held in an English high security prison involving students serving sentences in the prison and students from the University of Cambridge. This article is based on data…

In this paper we argue that education--particularly higher education (HE)--has the potential to offer socially, economically and culturally transformative learning opportunities. Yet, for prisoners, the opportunity to engage in HE as active social citizens are often limited. Using a Freirean model of democratic, pedagogic participatory dialogue,…

This paper situates education as an integral component of the overall prison rehabilitation process. The article discusses how an educational practitioner's knowledge of attachment theory and masculinities can be utilized to develop a secure methodological teaching environment in the classroom of a prison education unit and create a space where…

Introduction: Rehabilitation through formal education has been a long-term priority in the Norwegian criminal service. The rehabilitative effect of education is meant to result in employment and thereby ensure a successful return to society. Furthermore, education is considered as one of the most important ways to master life after ending…

This article draws on the theories of Mezirow, Foucault, and Holland and colleagues to investigate how students were positioned in relation to their own experiences, what opportunities they had to overcome their negative positioning in relation to the power structures that inform the worlds in which they move, and how their changed practices…

The nature of the education offered in prisons varies greatly. Provision can be focused narrowly on limited objectives, such as training for employment or seeking to "address offending behaviour." On the other hand, where prison education follows the policies of the Council of Europe or the European Union, which are drawn from the…

Explores the philosophy in the Council of Europe's European Prison Rules and a report advocating a transformative adult education orientation in corrections. Contrasts this perspective with current Anglo-American penal policy, in which negative stereotypes, vengeful attitudes, and massive increases in incarceration are inimical to genuine…