AAACE 2021 Annual Conference

incarcerated, prison, education, reentry

By exploring a manufacturing training class titled certified production technician prison education program, this session presents the various goals and capacities that were learned for increasing community reentry efforts and reducing recidivism. The learning outcomes will be presented through an interactive story by the adult educator and a program participant.

Using a women’s prison in Texas as a fulcrum to examine correctional adult education for community reentry, cultural-historical activity theory, specifically its principle of expansive learning, was employed to identify and describe the ladies’ learning. Expansive learning is uniquely positioned to focus on horizontally crossing all boundaries influencing and implicating prison release and transitioning back to the community and reducing recidivism. The session will use a manufacturing training class titled certified production technician whereby fourteen ladies participated and successfully completed. The program was supported by a collaboration of the Texas Dept of Criminal Justice, Texas Workforce Commission, Workforce Investment Board, and various business community partners helping the ladies transition from the prison to the community. The discussion will include the importance of a team around the adult learners to fully support their transition to the community. Program leaders established three major program goals: Educate, Empower, and Employ. These goals were operationalized through three learned capacities critical for reentry success. Connecting with the individuals’ pre-release and begin developing a solid reentry plan. Catalog available resources by identifying specific resources for the specific individual. Coordinate services delivery by making warm connections with various service providers crucial to their transition success.