"It's keeping me out of trouble" says a learner on probation, one of the many who have benefited from the promising practice described in this resource.
The case studies show how improvements in offender learning and skills can and do make a difference to offenders' lives. The drive to quality improvement is bringing together those involved in offender learning, whether in custody or the community, with the shared aim of improving learners' experiences, their achievements and their progression, to equip them for a future constructive life, free from offending.
As the Green Paper, Reducing Re-offending through Skills and Employment, states: "the challenge is stark" (1.17). The case studies show how the challenges of motivating offender learners, providing high quality education and training for them, and supporting their success, are being met through:
The 58 case studies tell different stories. Taken together, they point to key messages for professionals in the field who are developing strategic and operational approaches to quality improvement.
Partnerships bring resources, expertise and new opportunities and are critical to supporting transition, progression and resettlement.
Again and again case studies demonstrate how a partnership, within an organisation or with external partners, has made an initiative or improvement possible. This applies equally in promising practice from prisons, young offender institutions (YOIs) and community contexts.
Partnerships between prison officers, education staff and others are needed if creative initiatives or improvements to provision and participation are to be successful and sustainable. In one case study arrangements are made for prisoners to have part-time release to attend college. Here the commitment of the team of governors and staff is as important as the commitment of the colleges involved. Case studies based in the community show youth offending teams, Connexions, staff from YOIs and other agencies working together to improve provision for offender learners and to support their resettlement.
How will each partner benefit and what will they contribute to achieve the objectives? Are there differences in culture and approach to be reconciled or accommodated?
Partners often have different but overlapping objectives. Mutual understanding and shared objectives have to be developed to make a partnership successful. In one case study a prison is able to resource a vibrant learning centre for vulnerable prisoners through working with a local Lifelong Learning Partnership. The prison becomes an active member of the partnership and a manager has to find time for the necessary meetings and visits. Where dancers and artists and youth workers bring their skills and expertise to work with offenders, boundaries and expectations have to be explained to them, and respected, if they are to work successfully in a prison or YOI.
With successful partnerships in place it becomes possible to build capacity for self-improvement.
In one prison, membership of the Quality Improvement Group is extended to include the education manager and others with direct responsibilities for learning. The Group is now able to play a major role in self-assessment. The self-assessment is a continuing process with regular review to keep the self-assessment report 'live' and responsive to change. Having staff work together across provision helps develop a whole-organisation approach, for example when creating an individual learning plan to be used with learners in all departments or training a team of staff in the observation of teaching and learning. One message is that training needs to be regular to reinforce new approaches and bring new staff on board.
Partnerships support progression and resettlement.
A multi-agency strategy, developed by a YOI, youth offending team and Connexions, provides continuity of support for young offenders. Personal advisers in the community build relationships with the young people before they are released and help them find opportunities that match their interests and needs. One trainee, released on temporary licence, was sent to the Northern Racing College where he achieved NVQs at Levels 1 and 2. He also gained a nine-month placement at a racing stables.
Partnership between prisons also opens progression opportunities. Two women’s prisons work together to make it possible for women to progress to higher levels in hairdressing – one learner who became an assessor has progressed onto a Level 4 Certificate in Further Education Teaching and Training and gained a placement in a nationally known salon.
"Giving probation officers updates about testing and learners' achievements fosters their interest... they know the learners and can sell the provision" says education provider.
Purposeful communication with learners, partners and colleagues with different roles and responsibilities is essential to quality improvement. Offenders who have become peer tutors and learning representatives take the message into the wings and are able to engage and support reluctant learners. Prison officers who are fully aware of the project and support it make suitable spaces available for the learning to take place.
Quality improvement is customer focused. In these case studies the customers are learners and potential learners.
Successful curriculum development is underpinned by effective use of learner feedback, and, in one prison, contributes to the achievement of a Grade 1 for Sport, Leisure and Recreation. Feedback is collected formally by a simple questionnaire and suggestion boxes, and informally by sports representatives on the wings. The outcome is a curriculum with accredited and non-accredited opportunities tailored to the needs and interests of different potential learners – the over 40s, those wanting sports for fun, those wanting challenge and those with health problems, including people on detoxification programmes. Developments include an enhanced thinking skills programme that incorporates a challenging mini-assault course. The mix of accredited and non-accredited provision has increased participation. Inspectors found that one of things learners like about provision in the prison is 'getting certificates'.
Motivation has to be uncovered and fostered.
There is an emphasis within the case studies on information, advice and guidance as a source of regular support from induction to re-settlement. From the beginning of their sentences learners are encouraged to look forward to re-settlement. Often information, advice and guidance is provided within a package of support delivered with partner agencies in the community and in prisons and YOIs. A comprehensive information, advice and guidance service with regular opportunities for catch-ups and review in a dedicated and calm environment is created in one prison where staff have identified giving too much information at induction as a weakness. "70% of offenders were not able to retain information or ask the right questions" at the time when most of it was provided. For learners on probation a youth offending team provides information, advice and guidance in weekly surgeries in their office, in partnership with Connexions. Each young person has a secure area on the base website where they store and retrieve work.
Strategies for motivating learners include picking up on their interests, getting the right balance of challenge and support and, sometimes, bringing testing to the learners so that they get immediate feedback and a buzz from seeing what they have achieved. In one of the case studies a voluntary organisation establishes a test centre to help ex-offenders gain accreditation.
Offenders may have difficulties in negotiating and sharing in a team and in relating to authority figures. On one programme young people develop skills in speaking, listening and interacting effectively with people through group work. A contract of behaviour outlines their rights and responsibilities and supports the development of social and communication skills. Achieving these skills helps learners sustain their motivation and complete activities.
The personalisation of learning is one of the keys to motivation.
Teachers adapt their plans for individual learners. For example, parents on family literacy courses run by a probation service are asked the ages of their children so that materials can be tailored to their use. Often learners can be motivated to do something for their children. Creating stories personally addressed to their own children, reading them aloud and presenting them in beautifully packaged CDROMs builds the sense of value of parents who are separated from their children and helps maintain family ties. The parents also gain new skills. In this as in very many case studies, innovative and creative methods are used to embed Skills for Life.
Learning takes place formally, informally and in creative projects that have an impact across a prison.
Learning representatives promote learning on the wings. Skills for Life staff work in industrial workshops. In custodial settings, initiatives that take the learning to the learner, or bring new people such as disc jockeys or artists into the prison, depend on the support of prison officers for success – and the success of projects can contribute to the development of a more positive attitude to learning among staff. A prison officer writes about having held "the cynical view that it is a waste of [prison staff] time that resources are put to use for a very small minority who don't generally deserve or appreciate the opportunity they are given" and how, following their involvement in a dance project "how focused each prisoner was, how much effort they had put in. I was very surprised to see such a difference in their behaviour".
Many improvements begin with a review of curriculum, and the decision to broaden the offer by increasing vocational opportunities to develop skills and qualifications that are meaningful to employers.
The case studies tell how staff build a structured curriculum and enrich it with new imaginative content. In one prison and YOI, staff wanted to develop vocational skills in a subject that was attractive to learners and in which there were employment opportunities. The result was a go-karting course that develops motor vehicle engineering, literacy and numeracy skills.
Employers contribute to vocational learning opportunities. They help bring provision and equipment up to industry standards and make it easier for offenders to gain employment on release. In one prison, collaboration with information, advice and guidance staff and Jobcentre Plus has contributed to the development of an accredited pre-release course with strong links with local employers. Learners are developing employability skills and some are securing jobs. In another case study, a media company provides real work opportunities in the prison.
Arts projects in prisons and in the community are particularly effective in building employability skills.
The creativity and motivation that arts projects generate and the communication, concentration, commitment and team work required promote skills acquisition and positive attitudes. A probation service works with local authorities, the youth offending team, and a theatre to develop tailor-made programmes to help young people, many of whom are classified as at risk of re-offending, to gain employment and stay employed. Learners based in one hostel create a video on gambling entitled Is there only one winner?
A charter agreed by staff and offenders sets out their aims: raising awareness and challenging racism; encouraging community and involvement; valuing and promoting respect for everyone.
The charter was created in a YOI where there was evidence that some offenders felt that issues of racism and harassment had not been tackled adequately. A campaign was initiated to promote better race relations between staff, offenders and visitors and is working to create a culture that is free from racist intimidation, harassment and abuse. It tackles issues of equality and diversity head on and empowers young people by engaging them in debate and in committee work alongside representatives of staff from across the YOI. It also gives a voice to those who may feel isolated. In another, signs in the prison are translated into the languages of non-English speaking offenders and library books are acquired for them.
Many case studies show how barriers to participation can be overcome, for example, by developing targeted provision, providing individual support, including person-centred approaches to dyslexia and by drawing on the skills and experiences of offenders who give peer support. Creative approaches to the curriculum help build the confidence of learners on probation – outdoor pursuits such as canoeing and orienteering build skills for life and prepare women for employment. Young people develop skills for employment on an innovative unpaid work programme on the Norfolk Broads where they experience learning within a community setting rarely accessed by them. An ethos of inclusion is present in many case studies.
"Be consistent. Many clients have been let down by other establishments."
This message comes from a case study on delivering essential skills to learners on probation. Here the focus is on supporting learners as individuals. Being consistent means delivering what is promised, and being supportive. It also has very practical implications such as keeping provision going through the summer.
Where whole-organisation quality improvement is the aim, being consistent also matters. Here the focus is on developing strategic approaches, partnerships and processes for taking improvements across provision and for supporting learners throughout their journey, from induction to re-settlement.
The Green Paper, Reducing re-offending through Skills and Employment, also emphasises the need for consistency, in policy and in approaches to its implementation.