Our research explored the experiences of educators who teach in a gender-responsive program for women in a jail. We interrogated how educators fostered empowerment in their classes, what their motivations were for teaching in the program, and the tensions that existed for them when using emancipatory teaching practices in jail. Findings indicate that educators used Freirean concepts to foster empowerment, were motivated to share their knowledge, were motivated to counter dehumanization, and recognized their commonalities and privilege. Trust and agency created tensions while using an emancipatory pedagogy at a jail. Findings have implications for educators teaching marginalized populations.
AkelloJ. A.Lutwama-RukundoE.MusiimentaP. (2017). Functional adult literacy: An alternative gateway to grassroots women’s improved income generation in Lango Subregion, Northern Uganda. Adult Education Quarterly, 67, 79-96.
2.
AllenB.BostaD. (1981). Games criminals play: How you can profit by knowing them. Susanville, CA: Rae John.
3.
AngrosinoM.Mays de PerezK. (2000). Recontextualizing observation: Ethnography, pedagogy and the prospects for a progressive political agenda. In DenzinN. K.LincolnY. S. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 729-745). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4.
BloomB.OwenB.CovingtonS. (2005). Gender-responsive strategies for women offenders: A summary of research, practice, and guiding principles for women offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections.
5.
CantrellD. (2013). Correctional education as democratic citizenship education. Journal of Correctional Education, 64, 2-12.
6.
CastroE. L.BrawnM. (2017). Critiquing critical pedagogies inside the prison classroom: A dialogue between student and teacher. Harvard Educational Review, 87, 99-121.
7.
ChoiH. H.van MerriënboerJ. J. G.PaasF. (2014). Effects of the physical environment on cognitive load and learning: Towards a new model of cognitive load. Educational Psychology Review, 26, 225-244. doi:10.1007/s10648-914-9262-6
8.
CostelloeA. (2014). Learning for liberation, teaching for transformation: Can education in prison prepare prisoners for active citizenship. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 14, 30-36. Retrieved from http://arrow.dit.ie/ijass/vol14/iss1/4
9.
CrawleyE. (2004). Doing prison work: The public and private lives of prison officers. Portland, OR: Willian.
10.
DayJ.ZahnM.TichavskyL. (2015). What works for whom? The effects of gender responsive programming on girls and boys in secure detention. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 52, 93-129. doi:10.1177/0022427814538033
FedockG.FriesL.KubiakS. P. (2013). Service needs for incarcerated adults: Exploring gender differences. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 52, 493-508. doi:10.1080/10509674.2012.759171
13.
FloresJ. (2012). Jail pedagogy: Liberatory education inside a California juvenile detention facility. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 17, 286-300.
14.
FreireP. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (New Revised 20th Anniversary ed.). New York, NY: Continuum.
15.
FreireP. (2001). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy and civic courage. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
16.
FreireP. (2007). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th Anniversary ed.). New York, NY: Continuum.
GlazeL. E.KaebleD. (2014). Correctional populations in the United States, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus13.pdf
19.
GutiérrezL. M. (1990). Working with women of color: An empowerment perspective. Social Work, 35, 149-153.
20.
HochschildA. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feelings. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
21.
KilgoreJ. (2011). Behind the walls: The perils and pluses of critical pedagogy in prison education. Radical Teacher, 90(1), 57-66.
McCarthyH. J. (2006). Educating felons: Reflections on higher education in prison. Radical History Review, 96, 87-94. doi:10.1215/01636545-2006-005
24.
MerriamS. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
25.
MichalsI.KesslerS. (2015). Prison teachers and their students: A circle of satisfaction and gain. Journal of Correctional Education, 66(3), 47-62.
26.
PaasF. G. W. C.van MerriënboerJ. J. G. (1994). Instructional control of cognitive load in the training of complex cognitive tasks. Educational Psychology Review, 6, 351-371.
27.
PalominoE. N.RagsdaleL. (2015). The challenges and rewards of teaching Spanish in a community college prison program. In ScottR. (Ed.), New directions for community colleges: Vol. 2015, Number 170. Bringing college education into prisons (pp. 41-49). San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
28.
SandovalC. L.BaumgartnerL. M.ClarkM. C. (2016). Paving paths toward transformation with incarcerated women. Journal of Transformative Education, 14, 34-52. doi:10.1177/1541344615602758
SpauldingS. (2011). Borderland stories about teaching college in prison. In CoxE. M.WatsonJ. S. (Eds.), New directions for community colleges: Vol. 2011, No. 155. Marginalized students (pp. 73-83). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
32.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research (Vol. 15). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
33.
WeilerK. (1991). Freire and a feminist pedagogy of difference. Harvard Educational Review, 61, 449-475.
