Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Openings and Introductions: Education for the Many, Prison for the Few
- 2 From Prisoner to Student
- Vignette 1 Choosing My Journey
- 3 Pioneers and Politics: Open University Journeys in Long Kesh During the Years of Conflict 1972–75
- Vignette 2 Avoiding the Mind-Numbing Vortex of Drivel …
- 4 A University Without Walls
- Vignette 3 Starting a New Chapter
- 5 Open Universities, Close Prisons: Critical Arguments for the Future
- Vignette 4 Out of the Abysmal
- 6 The Light to Fight the Shadows: On Education as Liberation
- 7 From Despair to Hope
- Vignette 5 Making my Commitment
- 8 Straight Up! From HMP to PhD
- 9 From Open University in Prison to Convict Criminology Upon Release: Mind the Gap
- Vignette 6 Message to a Prisoner
- 10 From the School of Hard Knocks to the University of Hard Locks
- 11 Becoming me with The Open University
- Vignette 7 Catching up with Kafka
- 12 From D102 to Paulo Freire: An Irish Journey
- Vignette 8 My Journey, My New Life
- 13 Ex-Prisoners and the Transformative Power of Higher Education
- Vignette 9 Prison Choices: Taking a Degree or Packing Tea?
- 14 What the OU did for me
- Appendix Study with The Open University
- Index
2 - From Prisoner to Student
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 March 2021
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Openings and Introductions: Education for the Many, Prison for the Few
- 2 From Prisoner to Student
- Vignette 1 Choosing My Journey
- 3 Pioneers and Politics: Open University Journeys in Long Kesh During the Years of Conflict 1972–75
- Vignette 2 Avoiding the Mind-Numbing Vortex of Drivel …
- 4 A University Without Walls
- Vignette 3 Starting a New Chapter
- 5 Open Universities, Close Prisons: Critical Arguments for the Future
- Vignette 4 Out of the Abysmal
- 6 The Light to Fight the Shadows: On Education as Liberation
- 7 From Despair to Hope
- Vignette 5 Making my Commitment
- 8 Straight Up! From HMP to PhD
- 9 From Open University in Prison to Convict Criminology Upon Release: Mind the Gap
- Vignette 6 Message to a Prisoner
- 10 From the School of Hard Knocks to the University of Hard Locks
- 11 Becoming me with The Open University
- Vignette 7 Catching up with Kafka
- 12 From D102 to Paulo Freire: An Irish Journey
- Vignette 8 My Journey, My New Life
- 13 Ex-Prisoners and the Transformative Power of Higher Education
- Vignette 9 Prison Choices: Taking a Degree or Packing Tea?
- 14 What the OU did for me
- Appendix Study with The Open University
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The Open University (OU) has a long history of championing access to higher education for people whose prior experiences of education have not always been positive. In particular, almost since its inception, the OU has supported people who wish to study for a degree while serving a prison sentence, many of whom have had troubled pasts and been excluded from school. In 1974 HMP Wakefield celebrated the first OU prison graduate and since then thousands of students have gained a degree while in prison, with thousands more gaining certificates and diplomas or simply beginning their learning journeys. There are currently almost 1,800 OU students in prisons and secure hospitals across the UK, with degree pathways in all faculties. For many of these students, the OU is life-changing, providing a new perspective on life and an opportunity to become a valued member of society upon release.
This chapter discusses the benefits of OU study in prison, stressing the importance of developing the whole person and of having a positive, pro-social student identity. However, there are huge challenges to studying in prison which are also discussed. Key milestones over the last 50 years highlight how legislative changes and rapid advances in digital technologies have influenced delivery over that time. Despite some advances, there is still limited access to digital study materials in prison, most students use offline printed packs, often amounting to several hundred pages, which they study within the confines of a small cell. Yet their academic achievement is on a par with mainstream students, with many earning exceptional results. Continuing to provide a learning experience which is comparable with mainstream students, while still adhering to the strict requirements of the secure estate is extremely challenging for the OU. This chapter explores the students’ journey and the practical issues involved in developing and delivering the OU curriculum in prisons and introduces some of the exciting digital opportunities just emerging which may enable many more students in prison to transform their lives.
OU in prison: the benefits
Students first, not prisoners: positive personal and social identity
Many prisoners come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds having experienced family breakdowns, periods in care, physical abuse, drug and alcohol abuse (Ministry of Justice, 2010; Williams et al, 2012; Light et al, 2013).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Degrees of FreedomPrison Education at The Open University, pp. 11 - 30Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2019