Prison education

[hester]

Hello,

I'm teaching in a prison for a college.

It's a relatively pleasant experience.

One needs very strong boundaries as inmate students push trying to get favors,etc. They lean on outsiders to bring contraband.

 I was told they do teacher evals.



 A room full of people who committed unspeakable crimes making anonymous comments that will stay in your file permanently.

 Do you find this inappropriate?

Please let me know if I'm being too sensitive.

Thanks

[ciao_yall]

Hello,

I'm teaching in a prison for a college.

It's a relatively pleasant experience.

One needs very strong boundaries as inmate students push trying to get favors,etc. They lean on outsiders to bring contraband.

 I was told they do teacher evals.



 A room full of people who committed unspeakable crimes making anonymous comments that will stay in your file permanently.

 Do you find this inappropriate?

Please let me know if I'm being too sensitive.

Thanks

I taught resume writing in a local federal prison and really enjoyed the experience. I hope I helped my students as well. They had a long road ahead of them.

Main thing is to keep boundaries. Behave professionally and respectfully. Your job is to teach them whatever your subject is. And make sure the students see you friendly with the guards, wardens, etc so they know you are probably not worth messing with.

They don't start trying to use you for favors/contraband right away. They test you a little bit to see if you are open to little things, then work their way up.

They want to be treated like people, not like numbers or their histories. Many are in there for non-violent crimes thanks to the War on Drugs or Three Strikes. They want to be heard and seen.

You can run any concerns you have by the warden or your supervisor if anything happens that makes you uncomfortable.

Best of luck and thank you for serving people who really need it.

[Parasaurolophus]

Why would it be inappropriate? They're just reporting what the learning experience was like for them, like any other students. The feedback is liable to be more useful, since it will pertain to a highly specialized learning environment. But if it's not, it's no worse than the usual student feedback. Just ignore it and pass it along to whichever higher-up wants it.

[lightning]

Yes, I find it inappropriate, but it's nothing new.

Hello,

I'm teaching in a prison an overpriced sLAC.

It's a relatively pleasant experience.

One needs very strong boundaries as inmate entitled rich students push trying to get favors,etc. They lean on outsiders to bring contraband faculty for excessive extensions, excessive absences, multiple attempts at assessments, dropping assessments, easy As, therapy, & cheering them on at their boring lacrosse & crew tournaments.

I was told they do teacher evals.

A room full of people entitled spoiled rich kids with wealthy donor parents committed unspeakable crimes who think faculty are their servants, making anonymous comments that will stay in your file permanently.

Do you find this inappropriate?

Please let me know if I'm being too sensitive.

Thanks

[kaysixteen]

But if John Q. Scumbag was unsuccessful in getting the teacher to smuggle in dope for him, Scumbag gets to torch teacher's career?   Back to solitary for him.

I get that not all the cons are scumbags, and some, maybe even many, do not deserve their current involuntary accomodations in the greybar hotel, but teacher should not have to risk this.  And, of course, well, privilege to attend prison college class should more or less be on a one strike, you're out basis, with said privs suspended for at least a semester for first offenders.

[ciao_yall]

But if John Q. Scumbag was unsuccessful in getting the teacher to smuggle in dope for him, Scumbag gets to torch teacher's career?  Back to solitary for him.

I get that not all the cons are scumbags, and some, maybe even many, do not deserve their current involuntary accomodations in the greybar hotel, but teacher should not have to risk this.  And, of course, well, privilege to attend prison college class should more or less be on a one strike, you're out basis, with said privs suspended for at least a semester for first offenders.

JQS isn't that stupid. JQS is careful to figure out who he can trust to say "yes" before he asks a favor.

JQS's best bet is to fly below the radar and keep everyone happy with him. The rando professor coming in for a few hours each week isn't worth the trouble. 

[Parasaurolophus]

But if John Q. Scumbag was unsuccessful in getting the teacher to smuggle in dope for him, Scumbag gets to torch teacher's career?   Back to solitary for him.

I get that not all the cons are scumbags, and some, maybe even many, do not deserve their current involuntary accomodations in the greybar hotel, but teacher should not have to risk this.  And, of course, well, privilege to attend prison college class should more or less be on a one strike, you're out basis, with said privs suspended for at least a semester for first offenders.

It's a teaching evaluation, not a reference letter.

[Wahoo Redux]

I salute you for undertaking this very challenging assignment.

I am very empathetic and also very unsympathetic to people who break the law because of situations in my own family. 

Many JQSs are the products of their families or their communities; many are addicts----if they are in prison college they are probably rehabbing or trying to, I would guess; and many have personality disorders and psychological conditions they were born with.   

So, you can reasonably be wary of your students (which you are obviously wise to), even dislike them, because of what they did, but I wonder if this is the proper attitude / way to think about about people you are trying to teach...

A room full of people who committed unspeakable crimes

If it is, maybe ask for another assignment.

[kaysixteen]

I admit I was surprised to hear the suggestion that con students might attempt to get the prof to smuggle for them, and wonder if this is at all common?

I get that these evals are just that, evals, akin to what regular campus undergrads get to write at most American unis, so this perhaps begs the question as to exactly what are the usual career implications of such teaching evals, and would those admins, etc., evaluating the evals even know that any given one was written by a con?

I am all for cons getting the chance to better themselves by taking such classes, which is why, of course, those cons who are not, or at least are not *now* prepared to act appropriately in class, but might be a negative influence, should be removed from such classes.  I say essentially the same for any undergrads at any college, but the particular environment of prison makes this even more essential.

In any case, it is not realistic to expect John Q. Adjunct , or even John X. Tenuredupbigshot, to look out on a room full of killers and child molesters without at least some ambivalence.

[Hegemony]

Most of the crimes are not unspeakable. But in any case, even people who have committed serious crimes can report on whether their instructor was organized or disorganized, clear or unclear, prepared or unprepared. It sounds like maybe you are not cut out for teaching this population.

[hester]

I appreciate the comments/ feedback.

I couldn't tell if I was being arrogant or not.

 There are many hurdles teaching there. Additionally, one has to be hyper vigilant with students trying to "befriend" you.

  I was initially slightly taken back when I heard teacher evals were done.

 There are some disturbed individuals and I have zero interest in reading their anonymous comments.

 I know don't care about the evaluation process.

 Thanks for helping me sort this out!

[fishbrains]

During our Zoom orientation for teaching in our local prison, the trainer from the prison made the statement, "Don't ever try to bring contraband into the prison, unless you want to teach here on a permanent basis." He didn't smile when he said this.

I would compare teaching the prisoners to teaching dual enrollment students when I go into the high schools. They are very good students; but you're in a very different place, and you need to adjust your strategies accordingly.

[Langue_doc]

OP, talk to people who've taught in prisons--only two of the posters here have done so. I too would be concerned about the evaluations.

[fishbrains]

When I taught in a prison a couple of years ago, the students evaluated the state-grant-funded program but not the individual instructor. I think there was one question like "Were your instructors competent overall?" (or something like that), but not an individual course evaluation.

Many prompts on our current course evals like "Instructor is available to students outside of class" just wouldn't apply.

We were fortunate in that we were able to follow other community colleges who had already started a prison program in our state, so we were able to learn from their mistakes.

[hester]

The other day, student inmates wanted to leave early as not many showed up to class.

 I wasn't sure if they could leave or if I could demand they stay.

 I said I'll stay, run the class. I cannot force you to stay.

Several left to hang out in yard. Officer told them to get back in class and students were pissed at me.

Saying if if gave permission, they could have left.

 I don't mind teaching in this environment. However, I don't like this population making anonoymous comments about me that stay in a permanent file.

 
Perfect situation where admin could step in to help. We all know that's a joke!