I teach in a high security prison AMA

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I will be back to see if there are any questions in about an hour

What do you teach? What's the highest level of education a prisoner can reach....is open university an option still?

Predictable question, but is ir dangerous? Do you need to take any special precautions?

I'm interested in hearing more. I work in a pupil referral unit where there is a very strong network of outside agencies behind every vulnerable student. This support drops off a cliff the minute they turn 18. Do you have access to information on their SEND needs and is there the same expectation to make reasonable adjustments for those needs? Were many of them permanently excluded from school?

I normally teach to a primary level, literacy and numeracy, and some computer skills. I can teach maths and statistic to A level though, and have done sometimes. yes, prisoners can still do OU degrees and some do. Most prisoners are lacking in the simple basics though, and I teach those

Do you get told what the prisoners are in for or do you ever Google them after? Do you believe many of them are sincere about wanting to change?

Well, I have two jobs. I am part time in a prison, and part time in a school. The school is more dangerous. The only precaution I take in prison is about identity, never having my surname on view, etc. I have an officer in the room with me, or in the hall outside the room, I have an emergency call button which I have never had to press. I have been attacked and assaulted in schools occasionally over the years, never in prison.

We have access to their educational records, which in many cases are simply empty. Many have SEN. (Most, I would say) but most don't have any sort of diagnosis. Many did not complete school, some never attended any sort of education at all. Yes, we have many who's school career ended with expulsion somewhere in years 7-11

No we are not told, and no, I do not google - some of them tell us. Some want to change, some don't. Some don't even think that far ahead. Some lie about wanting to change, although I wouldn't say it is a lie, exactly, some are just good at saying what they think people want to hear, and it doesn't go any deeper than that - they don't even ask themselves if it is true or a lie.

The fact is, many don't have the resources to change. If you cant count money, you cant use a shop. You will steal and rob. If you can't read, you most likely can't find work, and will take what is offered. If you can't move away from drugs, then you can't start afresh.

But the better educated they are on release, the more genuine options are open to them

Is it difficult to find suitable resources to teach literacy skills to this population? Are resources designed for teaching adult learners of English as a Second Language useful or not really?

We are no short on resources - many are second language learners. Primary resources are often fine, or we can adjust them or make our own

Have you ever made a significant difference to a life? Has anyone contacted you on release to let you know how their life has changed for the better because of your input?

We don't have any contact after release. We don't have any contact after moving prisons, and that normally happens years before release. We have a massively high turn over, and never know how long any one person will be with us.

I think that the prison education service as a whole has had a massively beneficial difference to thousands of lives, but I'm just one little cog in that - the average prisoner will be through many classrooms during their sentence.

There have been people who I have started off on their educational journey, they stick with me - the ones who had never held a pen before prison, and could write their name a few weeks later. The ones who couldn't count beyond 109 -( funny, this is the sticking point for many!) but could read a bank statement after a few weeks. The ones who grasped a new concept - tax! map reading! whatever. I think the biggest influence I am likely to have had on lives would have been through teaching about contraception, actually.

There are a few who gained their first ever qualification with me, so I hope that put their feet on the right road - and one who I encouraged in his creative writing who I know is now a publisher writer

I will come back in another hour - I am rationing myself on mumsnet! one hour housework earns a sit down and scroll with a cup of tea.

I’m a probation officer and I can tell you that the people who come to me on release from prison are so, so proud of the qualifications they gain in prison, whatever level they may be 😊.

That is great to hear, thank you

I’m a probation officer and I can tell you that the people who come to me on release from prison are so, so proud of the qualifications they gain in prison, whatever level they may be

Such wonderful feedback. OP should be extremely proud of the job they do 🥰.

It is good to hear that the service makes a difference to people @Idratherbepaddleboarding - does getting qualifications make a difference to long term reoffending rates, do you think?

Amazing job you are doing OP.

I've been round the workshops of the prison I work at.

The guy who runs the car workshop has a noticeboard stuffed with pictures of his former pupils who are now successfully working in the car industry. He is unbelievably proud.

The best thing for most of these guys is getting a job that integrates them into society and away from their previous dropout mates.

Do you have to have self defence training? I know NHS staff in prisons have to (if they want to love around on their own).

What attracted you to working in a prison?

Finally are most your prisoners keen to learn? I assume they choose to come to lessons?

I just wanted to say thank you. Education is probably one of the few bits of prison that has some chance of helping people turn their lives around.

How would you get in to this work? (I have over twenty years' relevant experience). All my nearest prisons advertise for is trainee positions on fairly low salaries.

Also, how many hours do you work and how many are non-contact?

What worthwhile work you do, I am finding this thread fascinating 💐

My mum taught basic literacy in a YOI years ago and she loved it.

No, no self defence training.

I applied for the job when I saw it advertised, as it is local and part time and I have been in prisons before as a volunteer.

Prisoners are there by choice, yes. Some are keen to learn, some are just keen to be off the wing. Some want to learn but have no idea how to. They only know how to mess around and waste time, and have no idea what normal classroom behaviour is like

I am two days a week, 1 morning and 1 afternoon sessions and often a very long lunch - can be two hours- so no specific non contact periods, but plenty of planning time before and after and at lunch