Critical Issues in Prison Education

This book critically surveys the key issues in prison education today. Including contributions from practitioners, activists, scholars, researchers, and advocates, the majority of whom are currently or formerly incarcerated, it considers current and future educational opportunity for confined learners. The US prison system is discussed in most detail and the book includes comparative chapters from researchers based in New Zealand and Tanzania.

The contributors show how and why mass incarceration is the byproduct of the systemic denial of quality education to poor communities and communities of color in particular and discuss how the school-to-prison pipeline continues to disrupt the educational programming of children of color with increased exposure to law enforcement at younger ages. They consider how participatory action research can help to find solutions and look at how race/ethnicity/cultural affiliation play a role in the broader picture of mass incarceration as well as who does and does not have access to educational opportunities while inside. The chapters also cover issues of mental health, employment, trauma-informed pedagogy, digital and distance learning, leadership, university-prison partnerships, rehabilitations programs and the economics of prison education.

The book offers practical solutions for educators and policy makers working to make prison education more equitable for systems-impacted people.