Going to Teach in Prisons: Culture Shock.

Abstract

Novice prison teachers experience confusion and disorientation-culture shock-when they go to teach in prison because teaching and prison cultures collide. The stages of acculturation associated with culture shock are predictable and so are the identities and experiences of teachers who are positioned by the cultural dynamics of prison teaching. Acculturation theory enables us to appreciate the social-psychological dimensions of prison teachers' experience, facilitates the design of pre-service programs for novice prison teachers, and encourages veteran prison teachers to reflect on their experiences. Introduction: Culture Shock It's a culture in a sense and I sort of like going to cultures -1 think people are interesting and how they interact in settings is interesting (Anna, a prison teacher). Most prison teachers did not intend to teach in prison. They started teaching in prison casually, by accident, rather than as part of a sequenced, mediated, pre service stage in a professional development program (Geraci, 2002, Eggleston, 1991, Wright, 2002). Learning to teach this way is not only dangerous and frustrating* (Eggleston, 1991, p.16), it is confusing, disquieting, unsettling. For many novice teachers, prison teaching is a totally different experience, and prison is a foreign place. Without comprehensive pre-service training, they find they have to work by the seat of their pants (Wright, 2002), frequently lacking the cultural maps (Geraci, 2002) to understand their experience. Even the stereotypic images of prisons disseminated in the media do little to dispel the confusion. 'The author wishes to thank Mr. Ray Dormer for his thoughtful comments and suggestions for