Title of Project:                   Engaging Prisoners in Lifelong Learning Activities

Year:                                     2002

Action:                                 Grundtvig 2

Project No. and Code:          NI103DGC2516

Coordinator:                        North Eastern Institute, N. Ireland

Partners:

ARPAT Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell'Ambiente della Toscana (IT)

Casa Circondariale Prato (IT)

Escola Secundaria Sebastio Esilve (PT)

Faculty of Economics and Administration Masaryk University BRNO (CZ)

Universita di Malta Dipartimento dell Educazione (MT)

  
Description

The E.P.L.L.A. project will encourage prisoners and young offenders to re-engage with learning in the hope that it will lead them to a continuous cycle of lifelong learning and thus reduce their risk of re-offending. Its overall aim is to involve learners in activities that will improve their literacy skills and increase their awareness of health, lifestyle and employment issues. The outcome will be a range of teaching and learning packs developed by teachers and learners.

The learners will help draw up an initial questionnaire to test prisoner/young offender attitudes to health, lifestyle, employment and literacy. They will be also be involved in compiling and discussing the results of the questionnaire and will research and create illustrations for the teaching and learning materials. They will participate actively in the trialing and evaluation of the materials and will use the final product as a resource to improve their literacy skills, life skills and employability.

The partnership will also explore current educational opportunities and systems of prison education in the partner countries and will investigate processes of basic skills/basic literacy education as well as the potential for distance learning. A project website will be established so that results can be widely disseminated.

Area(s) covered

  • Basic skills

  • Active Citizenship and Intercultural Issues

  • Information Technology

  • Sustainable Development

  • Health and Environment


Project Objectives
Strategy for stimulating/promoting adult learners' demand for learning

  • Experimentation with new pedagogical approaches

  • Methods for providing credit for knowledge or competence acquired outside formal education

Target Group(s)

  • Persons in prison

  • Young Adults (15-25 age range) at risk of social marginalisation

  • Migrants/travellers/ethnic minorities or other minorities


Organisation Project website  
http://www.nei.ac.uk

Coordinating organisation      
North East Institute of Further Et Higher Education

Name of the contact person:
Lorna Warren
Trostan Avenue Building, Ballymena,
Co Antrim,
Northern Ireland, BT43 7BN
E-mail: lwarren@nei.ac.uk
Te I. 00 44 28 2565 2871
Fax: 00 44 28 2565 9245