PLA materials on cell-based learning
Developed by Claire Collins for the Prisoner Learning Alliance, these materials focus on education approaches and resources that can be used by teachers to support cell-based prison education.
The 2022 PLA Conference – Valuing Prison Education, Valuing Prison Educators – took place at The Foundry in Vauxhall, London. On 19 October, 100 speakers and participants came together for a day of presentations, workshops, and networking – for our first in-person conference since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Take a look at the notes and slides from each session, below.
The opening session was an opportunity to hear about the activities of the PLA over the last year, and to find out about several new resources developed to support prison educators.
One of those resources was a set of materials – developed by Claire Collins for the PLA – which focus on education approaches and resources that can be used by teachers to support cell-based learning.
Maria McNicholl introduced a new PLA report – published on the day of the conference. Professional development for prison educators: How can we train, support, and develop the prison teacher workforce? is a synthesis of the views of our expert Working Group, and brings together ideas about training, supporting, and developing the prison teacher workforce. It follows our research with UCU last year on the Hidden Voices report, which demonstrated that prison educators are undervalued.
Theresa Moore spoke about Weston College’s new prison teacher induction process – a 9-month programme developed by teachers for teachers – which too incorporates recommendations from the Hidden Voices report.
Finally, Toni Fazaeli updated attendees on the activities of the PLA Curriculum Working Group. Toni invited those present to review and comment on the draft of the Working Group’s forthcoming Toolkit, at two workshop sessions later that day.
Professional Development for Prison Educators
This report brings together ideas about training, supporting, and developing the prison teacher workforce. It sets out a vision of prison education as a meaningful career choice embedded in the mainstream teaching route, and makes a series of recommendations.
About the Speakers
Maria McNicholl has worked at St Giles Trust for many years leading service delivery in prisons. She developed the first flagship Peer Advice Project at HMP Wandsworth in 2001, training prisoners to NVQ Level 3 in Advice and Guidance and supporting them to provide resettlement advice to their peers in prison. Alongside winning multiple awards, it was successfully transferred to the community, resulting in many of the people they had trained in prison working or volunteering for St Giles Trust.
Theresa Moore had what can be described as a traditional and supportive education – school, 6th form and University – and started her career working within the Criminal Justice System for 10 years, before falling into FE and the concept of a dual professional. Theresa’s career in FE spanned nearly 13 years, both as a teacher and then in various management roles, culminating in short stint at a local university in their Academic Quality team. Five years ago, however, Theresa found her dream job, working in Prison Education as both a Quality Director and Regional Director. Theresa has always been passionate about second chances and the benefits of learning – and learning beyond the box (classroom). However, she is also a firm believer in supporting the staff who deliver on the ‘frontline’ – be it in FE or Prison Education, ensuring we provide them with the tools and space to do their job and become reflective practitioners.
Professor Tom Schuller (MA, PGCE, DrPhil), in his role as Chair, oversees every aspect of the PLA Steering Committee, chairing quarterly Committee meetings, and ensuring that the PLA functions with a valuable independent voice at its heart. Tom brings to the PLA significant academic expertise in adult education, alongside a long-standing interest in prison education. In the last decade, he has directed the UK national inquiry into the future of lifelong learning (IFLL) and co-authored its final report, Learning Through Life (NIACE – now Learning and Work Institute, 2009); been the principal editor of UNESCO’s 3rd Global Report on Adult Learning (2016); and published a book on how and why women’s competences are under-rewarded (The Paula Principle). He chaired the governing board of the Working Men’s College in Camden for eleven years and is a visiting professor at the UCL Institute of Education and formerly the University of Wolverhampton. Tom also served as a member of the Prisoners’ Education Trust’s Learning Matters Advisory Group from 2012.
During this session, Maria Navarro gave an update on Ofsted’s work inspecting prison education, focusing on the joint prison education review, with HMIP, and revisions to the inspection handbook.
About the Speaker
Maria Navarro is one of His Majesty’s Inspectors for Ofsted, in the Further Education and Skills Directorate. A long-standing inspector in Further Education and Skills, Maria is also Ofsted’s Specialist Adviser in Offender Learning. With many years’ experience of inspecting in Secure Estates and prisons, Maria oversees all policy developments with regards to Ofsted’s work in the Offender Learning remit. Maria’s work also encompasses the training and development of all inspectors working in this remit, as well as managing the quality of prison inspection and publication outputs.
We then started the morning’s workshop sessions. Attendees chose between:
PLA Prison Curriculum Toolkit, with Toni Fazaeli, to review and comment on this new resource.
During this workshop, participants reviewed the draft version of the PLA Prison Curriculum Toolkit, produced by the curriculum design working group chaired by Toni Fazaeli. The Toolkit is being re-drafted, based on discussions held in the workshop, and will be published soon.
Neurodiversity in prisons: Let’s start a conversation, with Scanning Pens, to learn how to identify need and support people on a day-to-day basis, and hear about good practice.
Self-Directed Learning, with HMP Bronzefield to find out about HMP Bronzefield’s innovative model of education for women, and how peer mentors support education delivery.
Mentors as educators, with The Shannon Trust, to hear an overview of the Shannon Trust’s work supporting literacy through mentor educators, and explore some case studies.
About the Speakers
Hayley Dall-Smith has worked within the justice sector for nearly 13 years, in several roles. Her current role at Scanning Pens is to support adult and vulnerable individuals with Neurodiversity needs. The sectors she works across include justice, community and international, and currently she is working with education providers within the UK prison estates to promote support for individuals with Dyslexia, low level readers, and ESOL. Hayley’s aim is to not only offer support to individuals in prison but also to raise awareness and offer support and resources to teaching staff, officers, employers, and peer mentors, and encourage them to promote inclusivity, raise awareness of Neurodiversity and recognise the importance of learning to read. Using her own experience of working within the justice sector allows her to relate to common barriers that staff may come across day to day. By sharing our stories, offering our views, and promoting good practice, she hopes to start a conversation about Neurodiversity in prison and how we can all play a part in supporting individuals on a day-to-day basis.
Karen Ryan is Director of Prison Delivery at Shannon Trust. Karen has extensive experience of project implementation and management of services within the homelessness sector in Merseyside. Previous roles have included adult social work, services manager and team manager. Before stepping into the director role, Karen worked as a regional manager at Shannon Trust for 4 years delivering services across the North of England.
Pank Sethi is an advocate for social change, referred to as the leading expert on Education and Advocacy for HIV and Sexual Health Services across UK prisons. He regularly conducts workshops in prisons and has earned a seat on the Prison Special Interest Group for the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV Services, where he directly influences how healthcare services are delivered across the prison estate. In the community he is the GMI Partnership Manager for Positive East and conducts workshops for THT as well as now being a positive speaker. He is also a board member and trustee of the only charity that uses a peer led programme to train prisoners who can read to teach those that can’t and is called upon for radio interviews and presenting both recorded and live…and this is all in addition to being a well known and respected Photographer with clients that include A List actors, advertising agencies, fashion houses and musicians. His numerous credits for feature length and short films allows him to act as a mentor to disadvantaged and underrepresented young adults and teenagers, teaching them the skills required to break into the film industry and help mould the next generation of British Talent.
Tanvir Hynes has been working, as Education Manager initially and now as the Head of Learning and Skills, at HMP Bronzefield for a little over 10 years. Previous to this, she worked in an Immigration Removal Centre and, prior to that, she lectured A-level psychology in a college, to adult learners. Having worked in the secure estate for some time now, Tanvir is always keen to bring innovation into any area that she manages. Some of the highlights have been to create a Business Centre of workshops to mirror the community high street, creating the opportunity for learners to gain experience in real life settings; identifying pathways into ROTL and employment; changing the traditional gym into a Wellbeing Centre to encompass holistic wellbeing; and more. The last two HMIP/Ofsted inspection reports speak for themselves with regards to outcomes and results, all of which she is extremely proud of.
Toni Fazaeli has worked in further and adult education for over 30 years, including as an inspector, a senior civil servant, a local authority adviser, a teacher and as chief executive of a national professional body for teachers. She is active in governance of further education colleges and involved in All Souls at the University of Oxford and also the Queen’s Anniversary Prize. Toni is a visiting Professor at the University of Wolverhampton in lifelong learning, and an active member of the PLA. She has taught in prisons and worked with the prison sector over many years. She is dedicated to the power of high-quality learning making a difference for people, especially for those who are marginalised in our society. Toni is Vice Chair of The Bell Foundation and chairs the PLA’s working group on Curriculum in Prisons.
During this session, the Open University launched their new course, Exploring the history of prisoner education. Created in collaboration with former prison learners and recently piloted at HMP Leeds, this free course has been developed for learners who are in prison, and for people who work in prisons, visit prisons or are interested in the history of prisons and prisoner education.
About the Speakers
Rosalind Crone is professor of history at The Open University. Since 2009 she has both chaired and been a member of a number of undergraduate and postgraduate history modules, several of which have been available to (and have been studied by) students in secure environments. With the support of AHRC funding, between 2014 and 2022 Rosalind completed a project on the history of prison education in Britain, the results of which have been published as a book and, through collaboration with Prisoners’ Education Trust and former prisoners, transformed into a free, Badged Open Course available through The Open University’s OpenLearn platform.
Leah Humphries is a filmmaker, writer, motivational speaker and broadcast coordinator for Wayout TV. Leah served as consultant for the production of the Badged Open Course, Exploring the History of Prisoner Education, available through OpenLearn.
We then started the afternoon’s workshop sessions. Attendees chose between:
PLA Prison Curriculum Toolkit, with Toni Fazaeli, to review and comment on this new resource.
During this workshop, participants reviewed the draft version of the PLA Prison Curriculum Toolkit, produced by the curriculum design working group chaired by Toni Fazaeli. The Toolkit is being re-drafted, based on discussions held in the workshop, and will be published soon.
Business start-up for prisoners: Still a locked door, with RIFT Social Enterprise, to hear about self-employment support for people in prison and on release.
We need to talk about blended learning, with HMP Liverpool, to find out about research they carried out with learners and how this informed their model of blended learning.
Delivering a family reading challenge, with The Reading Agency, to learn about the value and impact of family reading in prisons, and hear about the evaluation of a recent Family Reading Challenge pilot.
About the Speakers
Carina Spaulding is The Reading Agency’s Head of Research and Evaluation, leading their original research programme and annual evaluation of the charity’s projects and programmes. This includes the production of a robust evidence base demonstrating the reach and impact of The Reading Agency’s work and positioning reading as a key driver in tackling life’s big challenges. She holds a PhD in English and American Studies, with her previous research exploring the value of cross-sector collaboration in engaging targeted communities.
Daisy Mills heads up the Business Start-Up Team at RIFT Social Enterprise, bringing her 7 years’ experience within the social housing sector and background in the public procurement and construction industry. She has previously been the project lead for a €10 million, cross border, EU-funded project which supported in excess of 1,200 individuals into self-employment, traditional employment or further education. Daisy is passionate about business start-ups, innovation and out of the box ideas.
Emma Braithwaite is The Reading Agency’s Head of Skills and Engagement and leads their reader development programmes for children, young people and adults. These include Reading Ahead, Chatterbooks, and the annual Summer Reading Challenge – the largest summer reading for pleasure programme for children in the UK, delivered in partnership with public libraries. She previously spent 12 years working in education publishing.
Emma Ireland is Novus’ Quality Manager of Education for prisons in the Greater Manchester and Merseyside region. Fresh to the role and to prison education, her background is teaching ESOL, maths and English in a large FE college, which she did for 13 years before becoming an Advanced Practitioner for four years. She is interested in all things pedagogy and is often on Twitter keeping up with the latest research to maintain currency in evidence-informed teaching.
Esther Kelly has a background in primary education and has worked at HMP Liverpool for over three years. She combines her responsibilities as a hub manager for art, digital skills and radio production with teaching English and ESOL. Holding a strong belief in practitioner research, Esther has led projects investigating learner engagement and motivation in prison education and embedding the teaching of English in vocational training. These projects resulted in unexpected findings and an innovative delivery model which benefits more learners.
Olly Goodwin spent a decade teaching before a career change to establish his own business. He has lived experience of time in custody. He now combines his love of working with and developing people with his knowledge and skillset in start-up businesses to help clients transform their ideas into reality. Olly loves seeing clients succeed just as much as he loves geeky board games and walking his dog in the Yorkshire countryside (which is a lot)!
Toni Fazaeli has worked in further and adult education for over 30 years, including as an inspector, a senior civil servant, a local authority adviser, a teacher and as chief executive of a national professional body for teachers. She is active in governance of further education colleges and involved in All Souls at the University of Oxford and also the Queen’s Anniversary Prize. Toni is a visiting Professor at the University of Wolverhampton in lifelong learning, and an active member of the PLA. She has taught in prisons and worked with the prison sector over many years. She is dedicated to the power of high-quality learning making a difference for people, especially for those who are marginalised in our society. Toni is Vice Chair of The Bell Foundation and chairs the PLA’s working group on Curriculum in Prisons.
Jane Slater is a PhD student at Nottingham Trent University, and previously worked as an education tutor at a Category B prison in the East Midlands. During this session, Jane presented her doctoral research, which centres around prison education and the potential rehabilitative and recidivism of people in prison for a sexual offence.
About the Speaker
Jane Slater is currently working at Nottingham Trent University as a research assistant in the psychology/criminology department. Before this, Jane worked in a category B prison in the East Midlands as an education tutor, and, because of this, her research focuses on education in a prison setting. Jane is a PhD student at Nottingham Trent University and her doctoral research centres around prison education and the potential rehabilitative and recidivism of individuals incarcerated for a sexual offence.
During this session, a panel of experts from Royal Holloway, St Giles Trust, HMP Brixton and the Open University, spoke on the theme of this year’s conference, ‘Valuing Prison, Valuing Prison Educators’.
Each speaker drew on their experience teaching, learning, or teaching and learning in prisons. They spoke about what prison education means to them personally – not only in terms of the tangible outcomes like qualifications and employment, but the relationships, sense of self and fulfillment that it brings.
About the Speakers
Alison Drew developed an interest in criminal justice when she became part of a coalition to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey, USA. She has been working in prisons in England since 2004, primarily with women. As a trainer with St Giles, she has supported more than 160 women in HMP Send and HMP Bronzefield to gain Level 3 and Level 4 qualifications in Advice and Guidance. In 2018, she was recognised for this work by the Worshipful Company of Educators with an Inspirational Educator Award. Alison was part of the first cohort to gain Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) through the Education & Training Foundation and is a Chartered Teacher with the Chartered College of Teaching. Besides her work in prisons, Alison delivers training for peer advisors and staff throughout St Giles in trauma-informed practice and Mental Health First Aid. She is an MHFA England Instructor Member.
Professor Nick Hardwick CBE graduated in English from Hull University in 1979. His career started in the voluntary sector, firstly with young people involved in the criminal justice system, then leading Centrepoint and the British Refugee Council. In 2003 he was appointed this first Executive Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. In 2010 he was appointed as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales and from 2016-2018 he Chaired the Parole Board. He now works at Royal Holloway, researching and teaching on accountability mechanisms in criminal justice, prison conditions and youth custody. He combines this with expert consultancy on prisons and the prevention of torture and ill-treatment in various jurisdictions. He is Chair of Nacro, a trustee of the London Housing Foundation and a patron of Unlock and Zahid Mubarek Trust. Nick was awarded a CBE in 2010 and has honorary doctorates from the universities of Hull, Leeds-Beckett and Wolverhampton.
Sonia Brooks OBE started her career in the public service as a Prison Officer 23 years ago and has worked her way through the prison service at each grade. Sonia is currently the Governor of HMP Brixton and has previously governed HMYOI Werrington. Sonia has worked in different roles and recently was the Head of Diversity and Inclusion for HMPPS. In 2018 she led a National Review of Safeguarding in Youth Custody Services in response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. She has spent over 10 years working with children in custody. Sonia is a graduate of the Future Leaders Scheme/META and in 2018 was awarded an OBE for her services to HMPPS and supporting young people. In 2021 Sonia was awarded the Syliva Denman award from the National Black Crown Prosecution Association for her dedication to improving the life outcomes of children who become involved in the criminal justice system.
Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski (AFHEA) is an associate lecturer in criminology with The Open University (OU), a regional manager for the OU’s Student’s in Secure Environments (SiSE) team, a PhD candidate with a focus on higher education in prisons, and former prisoner. Stephen’s unique experiences includes lived experience of the CJS, gaining an undergraduate and two postgraduate degrees during an 8-year period of incarceration. He currently works with over 26 prisons to facilitate OU study as a regional manager for The Open University whilst tutoring 1st and 2nd year criminology students as an associate lecturer, and conducting research in prisons.
We would like to thank our brilliant speakers, chair Tom Schuller, and Conference attendees.
