Identifying the target group of learners

The provider for this project is based in a women’s correctional centre and funding comes through a TAFE college from the Office of Training and Further Education (OTFE).  The education program is available to all women who enter the prison.  After an introduction to the education centre, the women choose the subject areas they would like to pursue, if any.

The Reading and Writing program is offered on a part-time basis for 3-6 hours a week for the duration of the sentence, which is 12 weeks on average.

The teacher /student ratio is funded at 14:1, but participation can vary greatly from class to class due to court appearances, visits from professionals (eg. lawyers), medical appointments, etc. and with the average sentence being around three months, the group is ever-changing.

The ongoing Reading and Writing course aims to develop language, literacy and numeracy skills at a range of levels to meet personal, social and/or vocational needs.

Outline the purposes and social context of the program

Participants in the Reading and Writing program come from a very broad range of backgrounds, have a broad range of skills and a wide range of goals.  Generally, they all would like to improve their literacy and numeracy skills but they participate for different reasons: to do something constructive with their time, to avoid going to work, to avoid the politics and violence of the prison, because the Prisoner Classification Board recommend it. No class is ever the same and few classes run smoothly as personalities clash, medication levels rise and fall, and emotions run high and low.

The program on offer needs to appeal to students who have different skill levels, different interests and different learning styles.  Many women have a very specific reason for coming to the Reading and Writing class: to help them do their job in the storeroom, to understand ordering forms, or to “learn about the computer so I can keep up with me kids”.  Many students like to be given work that will generally develop their skills.

Students constantly enter and exit the program as they are admitted and discharged from the prison, and I need to be adaptable to tap into the mood of the class and pick up on learning opportunities as they arise.  If group work looks like a possibility then I’ll run with it, if the students appear aggravated with each other then we’ll settle into individual programs that have been established through negotiation.