Managing a full-time school within a correctional services environment

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate and analyse the educators’ experience in managing a full-time school within a Correctional Services environment. Provision of education in the South African Department of Correctional Services is in terms of Section 29 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No.108 of 1996) which stipulates that “everyone has a right (a) to basic education, and (b) to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.” “This constitutional imperative for schooling is not a right that is curtailed by incarceration” (DCS, 2005:137). The researcher used qualitative research inquiry. This is a case study of the educators’ experience in managing a full-time school within a Correctional Services environment. To obtain an in-depth understanding and gain more insight on the research topic, this study focused on one full- time school within the South African Department of Correctional Services. Literature reveals that “correctional centres are bureaucratic institutions that are characterised by a number of factors that can potentially encourage or impede education programme success” (Sanford &Foster, 2006:604). The environment makes learning difficult as there are frequent lockdowns, headcounts and hearings that disrupt the consistency of classes and interrupt the education process (Schirmer, 2008:29). Few learners attend classes and whilst in class they are not really listening, instead, they would be sleeping and unproductive. In most cases, learners would be present because they were forced to be in the education programme (Wright, 2004:198). In this study, the researcher used semi-structured one on one interviews, and document analysis as data collection strategies. Purposeful sampling was utilized to select respondents. A total of six respondents who are full-time educators employed by the Department of Correctional Services were interviewed. The study reveals that managing a full-time school within a Correctional Services environment seems to be challenging because education is not respected and not prioritized. This finding appears to be consistent with literature which reveals that the uniqueness of correctional centre culture with a correctional centre management characterized by a focus on security measures such as lockdowns and head counts constraints the possibilities of learning (Watts, 2010:57). Based on the findings in this study, the researcher recommends that educator development should be prioritized within the Department of Correctional Services and school management should be informed about learners that are released from the correctional centre. This study concludes that managing a full-time school within a Correctional Services environment is challenging due to Correctional Services environment being not conducive for teaching and learning and inadequate resources.