A survey of teachers working in Quebec federal institutions revealed that academic teachers and vocational teachers hold quite different viewpoints on the role of the teacher in corrections.

A similar U.S. survey on the practices of correctional educators found that they were often preoccupied with issues not directly related to the teaching process itself.

In a study conducted by Dr. Louis Toupin, a 225-item questionnaire was administered to teachers in Quebec federal penitentiaries. Eighty educators (95%) responded. An analysis was performed on the responses to 53 of the questionnaire items that dealt with educational values and procedures.

Subjects were asked how they perceived their current role and their ideal role as a correctional educator. Half the teachers considered themselves, both currently and ideally, as "social rehabilitators." Teacher as "advisor" was perceived as the present role by almost one third of the sample and as the ideal role by 38%. Only 20% of the sample deemed the teacher's present role to be "knowledge communicator," and even fewer (11%) saw this as the ideal role.

Those who perceived their role to be social rehabilitation responded differently to items on instructional and intervention methods than those who perceived their role to be advisory. As shown in Figure 1, "social rehabilitators" were generally more in favour of informal instructional methods and procedures than were the "advisors."

• students learn self-determination (organize and plan for themselves); students learn to develop critical thinking skills and concern about social improvement;
• the objectives of social reintegration are ever-present in order to increase, through education, the student's chances of release and the student's potential upon release;
• individual instruction, which requires the teacher to have a warm and motivating attitude, is the favoured method of intervention; and
• overall evaluation is based on the objectives of the program

In general, respondents also concurred on the concept of correctional education as a socializatic model, although the degree of consensus was not as apparent as on the personal development concept. The socialization model of correctional education holds that:

• teaching should help the individual adapt to society and not vice versa, and it should instill a sense of social and personal responsibility;
• the so-called essential subjects covered by teaching should not only combine the choices and needs of the individual but also take into account the demands of society;
• highly structured programs should exist side by side with certain types of self-learning programs; and
• education should aim to develop cognitive patterns and conceptual capacities, and subsequent evaluation should be of a more global nature than objective tests.

With respect to the utilitarian concept of teaching, vocational teachers and academic teachers had obvious differences of opinion. Teachers in the academic sector tended to agree only partially with the idea that inmates should be equipped primarily with the ways, means, and ambitions necessary to meet the demands of society, whereas vocational teachers were unanimous on this score. Completely opposed to adapting their methods to the requirements of the correctional setting, academic teachers preferred to adhere to more formal teaching methods. Vocational educators, however, felt that teaching methods should be modeled on the reality of the teaching situation. Furthermore, academic teachers minimized the necessity for an authoritarian teacher-student relationship, whereas vocational educators placed high importance on this type of relationship.

A large majority of respondents, especially teachers in permanent positions, were optimistic about the future of correctional education. Most felt that correctional education facilitated the reintegration of offenders into the labour market.

Respondents indicated a certain level of openness to innovations in education, such as individualized teaching. Self-learning, however, was not rated highly.

In summary, vocational teachers tended to see themselves as representative of societal values and stressed the importance of student conformity to their pattern, whereas academic teachers preferred not to take a position on values and instead emphasized the importance of general cognitive and social skills. Overall, however, the correctional educators in the sample expressed general support for models of education that promote the personal development and socialization of offenders.

This survey examined the demographic characteristics, teaching practices, beliefs about teaching, educational standards, and educational philosophy of a sample randomly selected from the 1988 membership list of the Correctional Education Association (which includes nonteachers). Of the 320 questionnaires sent out, 157 were returned, for a response rate of 49%. Of these, 39% were from correctional educators (N=62). Respondents were asked to rate each item in the questionnaire on a five-point scale according to how well it described their teaching practices or their opinions on teaching. Respondents were also invited to provide more detailed answers to the items on educational philosophies.

Respondents ranged in age from 26 to 65 years, with a mean age of 44. Almost half the subjects were women. All but two respondents had at least a Bachelor's-degree level of education. Twenty-nine U.S. states were represented in the sample. While subjects had been in their current teaching position for an average of 7 years, the range was from 1 to 20 years. More than 60% of the sample were working in adult institutions. The number of students taught ranged from 4 to 130, but 11 was the average number of students taught on an average day.

The findings were summarized by mean scores on each questionnaire item. Figure 2 depicts the responses to questions on teaching practices. The three categories that teachers thought least described their teaching practices were: teaching regulations, allocation of time, and organizational awareness.

The Canadian survey indicated that correctional educators were generally quite open to a broader definition of correctional education, which extends beyond the mere teaching of vocations, literacy, and numeracy. Despite the differences in the perceptions of vocational and academic educators, respondents were, on average, supportive of educational programming that addressed the personal development and socialization needs of offenders.

The American study, on the other hand, suggested that correctional educators in that country envisioned a philosophy of correctional education with more concrete objectives. It should be noted, however, that the American respondents were asked to provide a statement of their educational philosophy, whereas the Canadian respondents were asked to indicate their preference of given statements reflecting different philosophies. It may have been easier for respondents to indicate support for a statement than to come up with the statement themselves.