EDUC 3142 - Down the School to Prison Track, and Back

(crosslisted) GOVT 3242
(CU-CEL)

Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Forbidden Overlap: due to an overlap in content, students will receive credit for only one course in the following group: AMST 3142, EDUC 3142, EDUC 3143, GOVT 3142, GOVT 3242.
Permission of instructor required. Service learning participation in the Cornell Prison Education Program is required.

R. Scott.

The “school-to-prison track” refers to policies and practices that facilitate the transfer of students out of the school system and into the prison system (including juvenile detention, county jail, immigration detention centers, or adult prison). While all schools participate in the enforcement of rules/laws, the school-to-prison track represents an injection of punitive social policy into the realm of education. The 1994 statutory denial of financial aid for college-aspiring prison inmates also pulled educational policy into alignment with policies aimed at punishment rather than rehabilitation. Programs such as the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP) have aimed to help construct pathways “back” to college. This course takes a critical analytical look at the intersections of prisons and schooling, emphasizing pedagogy, history, and policy.

Outcome 1: Compare education policy and correctional policy to the real world of education during and after prison.

Outcome 2: Analyze their prison classroom experience in the context of the broader criminal justice system.

Outcome 3: Articulate different philosophies of education/pedagogy as well as different philosophies of prison/corrections.