Critical Points of Resistance: Preparing Adult Educators to Educate Inside the U.S. Prison System

Abstract

This is a proposal answering the call for the Special Theme Issue on Adult Learning and Mass Incarceration. The purpose of this proposed research article is to present a case study that demonstrates the application of innovative critical pedagogical teaching methods used in a University classroom setting with adult educators who were preparing to teach inside the U.S. prison and jail system. While there is a body of literature that discusses the nature of adult education in the prison classroom, there has been a lack of data-based research that specifically highlights the critically overlooked issue of how do we develop adult educators for the task of teaching on the “inside”? This article will be an example of engaging alternatives and reformulating the conceptualization of how to approach preparing adult educators to teach behind bars by discovering and creating new possibilities for the role of adult education in prison.