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FORUM on Corrections Research
Where Is the Correctional Service of Canada Taking Correctional Education?
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Since the mid-1800s, education has been a part of penitentiary life in Canada and has been recognized as
making a positive contribution to the reformation of offenders. Education is a vital element in the
reformation of the fallen, and should be carried to the widest extent - consistent with the other
purposes of a prison. It quickens intellect, gives new ideas, supplies food for thought, inspires
self-respect, supports proper pride of character, excites ambition, opens new fields of exertion,
ministers to social and personal improvement and affords a healthful substitution for low and vicious
amusements. Wherefore, a school for secular instruction, in which reading, writing and arithmetic are
taught to those who are deficient in these primary branches, is in operation in each Penitentiary. This statement, taken from A Living Tradition: Penitentiary Chaplaincy by J.T.L. James, appears in a report written in 1881 by Inspector Moylan. The spirit of Inspector Moylan's report is reflected today in the activities of the Correctional Service of Canada's Education and Personal Development Division: managing programs and activities that help offenders develop personal and social skills, acquire educational qualifications and learn responsible behaviour. But while the spirit of offering education may be similar in both cases, education has moved from the reading, writing, and arithmetic of Inspector Moylan's day to Adult Basic Education (literacy), secondary, postsecondary and vocational programming. In addition to keeping pace with the community, future correctional education will place greater emphasis on examining the impact of education on offenders' lives, both inside and outside prisons, to ensure that all programs assist offenders upon release. As well, a focus on increased program integration will strengthen the rehabilitative nature of education and correctional programs in general. For example, literacy training would be taught in conjunction with the training required in an industrial shop. Adult Basic Education has been the educational priority of the Correctional Service of Canada since 1987. National and international focus on the societal problems of illiteracy provided the impetus for the Correctional Service of Canada to increase its efforts with offenders who function below a complete grade-eight level in language and mathematics. Recognizing that a significant proportion of offenders were considered functionally illiterate, then Solicitor General James Kelleher challenged the Correctional Service of Canada to address the needs of these individuals. The challenge was to assist 4,050 offenders to achieve grade-eight language and mathematics levels during the three-year initiative. In fact, a total of 4,101 offenders successfully completed the Adult Basic Education program, thereby surpassing the target and dramatically surpassing the achievements of the year before the initiative (1986), when approximately 150 offenders completed the program. The Results Orientation The results-oriented approach to education programs, which began with Adult Basic Education, will be continued. The Adult Basic Education initiative has laid the groundwork for results-oriented programming in terms of offender participation and grade-level completions. In order to obtain truly individual program data on offenders, the first data base for the collection of such information was created by the Education and Personal Development Division. During 1990-91 and 1991-92, this system is being enhanced to highlight additional performance indicators for program participation and completion at the grade-five and grade-ten levels. The addition of grade five as a performance indicator will help to ensure that the needs of offenders with the most significant educational deficiencies will be met, while the addition of grade ten as a performance indicator will underscore our commitment to help offenders continue their education. The performance information obtained will also greatly contribute to the planning and management of the offender's program. A results-oriented program in corrections, of course, involves more than statistics. One of the primary objectives of the Correctional Service of Canada is to provide programming that will aid offenders with successful reintegration into the community. Accordingly, a research project was carried out to study the impact of Adult Basic Education on community reintegration and adjustment. Prior to this initiative, little research supported the presumed link between increased education and improved integration. Although experimental in nature, the analysis (which was managed by the Research and Statistics Branch of the Correctional Service of Canada) showed that Adult Basic Education has a positive impact on community adjustment. This research lays the groundwork for future and longer-term analyses of all education programs and will probably provide education administrators with the best program-planning information available. Integrated Education Programming Some students conclude their formal education when they complete an Adult Basic Education program. For others, this achievement represents their first success in the education system and motivates them to continue their studies, in either an academic program or a vocational education program. To support these students, vocational education must be relevant to the world into which offenders will reintegrate. Therefore, the program must be oriented to the careers and workplace demands of the 1990s, and students must achieve the academic standards they will need to continue their education once they return to the community. This also implies the need for much closer integration of academic and vocational education in order to meet the needs of students and prepare inmates for the challenges of a rapidly changing and increasingly complex society. It will no longer be acceptable for the various facets of the education system to operate in isolation from one another. The continued evolution and growth of the education program will depend not only on its internal integration and consistency, but also on its integration with other correctional programs. Adult Basic Education was the Correctional Service of Canada's first concentrated foray into integrated programming. For the first time, part-time programming was widely available, and the value of linking different types of programs was recognized. A diversity of program thrusts is required to meet the needs of offenders and to assist them in preparing for reintegration into the community. Programs such as substance abuse, industries, work, living skills, vocational training and academic education are all required to achieve the desired result and often depend on each other in order to be truly effective. No longer can education be defined as the provincially accredited program that is the exclusive purview of teachers. All education programs must become part of the institutions in which they operate and part of the larger community. Correctional education in the future will require more than simply attending to the academic and vocational needs of offenders. Added emphasis must be placed on the progress and continuity of each offender's educational career. This new emphasis, coupled with real program integration - not simply a sprinkling of "a little academic/a little work/a little personal development," but an understanding of the linkages and the benefits of integration - will strengthen an offender's chances for successful reintegration into the community. |
