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FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHING IN A PRISON COLLEGE PROGRAM: MOTIVATIONS, BARRIERS, SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT, AND PERCEIVED EQUIVALENCE TO TRADITIONAL COLLEGE PROGRAMS

NCJ Number
143658
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 44 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1993) Pages: 20-25
Author(s)
T M Osberg; S E Fraley
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article presents the results of a survey of faculty members in a prison college program to determine their views on motivations, barriers, and suggestions for improvement in inmate college programs, along with their perceptions of the equivalence of such programs to traditional college programs.
Abstract
Sixty-seven faculty members currently teaching for the Consortium of Niagara Frontier, a prison college program that serves three prisons, were surveyed, yielding a 76- percent survey response rate. To assess perceived equivalence to a traditional college program, respondents were asked to rate whether or not the prison program "provides an education equivalent to a traditional college education." They were also asked to indicate their degree of satisfaction with the prison program and to compare inmate and traditional college students on a number of traits. Three open-ended questions assessed respondents' perceptions of the reasons they teach in a prison program, the barriers they face in teaching in a prison, and recommendations for improving prison education programs. Respondents did report that inmate college courses are equivalent to traditional college courses and that inmates are equally intelligent and perhaps more self-directed compared to typical college students. Barriers and suggestions for improvement pertained to educational aids, faculty-student contact time, and the disruption occasioned by prison procedures. 6 tables and 15 references