Inside-Out Training Program

Katie D.

August 3, 2009 - 10:30 AM

Here I am! I have arrived in Philadelphia for the long-awaited Inside-Out Training Program. (Please see previous blogs for an in-depth description of what this means) Briefly, the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program is a national program of professors who offer college courses in prisons, to a mixed class of college students and inmates. These classes are offered in the fields of sociology, criminal justice, and the humanities, and are designed to give all participants a new and deeper understanding of the material. I have participated in two Inside-Out literature classes offered through the University of Oregon's Honors College, both taught by Professor Steve Shankman.

I enjoyed these classes so much that I have decided to write my undergraduate honors thesis with the program as a major focus. My thesis working title is Turned Inside Out: Intergroup Dialogue, Pedagogy, and the Inside-Out Program. In other words, I will be working on strategies for bringing diverse people together in constructive dialogue, examining teaching methods for doing this in the classroom, and using the Inside-Out Program as a case study and example of this done well.

To that end, I am attending a week-long training program for the professors who teach Inside-Out classes. It is a great honor for me to be included, as the intended audience is really the interested college professor. During this week, I will be studying the methods and philosophies of the Inside-Out Program: how to structure the classroom, the discussions, how to write a curriculum, and the nuts-and-bolts problems of running this course.

There are nine other people at the training this week. Their disciplines range from criminal justice to religion to sociology to law. We have a dramatic range of geographic areas and ages. I am the youngest, and the only individual who has never taught a class before.

Our first day began with lunch, followed by classes for the rest of the afternoon and evening. My peers in this program are phenomenal. The two instructors (the National Director of the program and a recent trainee) are amazing at creating dialogue, sharing personal experiences, and creating welcoming space.

We sit in a circle. We wear name tags. We look each other in the eye when discussing things. We are all obviously excited to be here, and bring a variety of experiences with prison work, professorship, and other things.

I want to share one of our first exercises from today's program.

Close your eyes.

Think of the worst thing you have ever done in your life. Now imagine that that moment defines you: that the action is turned into a noun and that is how people refer to you. You become that action in the eyes of your peers. You are labeled with that action and you are considered to be nothing else for some period of time. Imagine living as that action for two months. A year. The rest of your life.

In Inside-Out classes we do not use labeling words like "criminal" and "prisoner." While these words are convenient, they are also violent in their labeling. They are limiting. They equate an individual, with a rich history and complicated emotions to a single action that is now their definition. Beyond this, even, is the inherent limitation of a label like this. When the word "criminal" is used, there are dozens of automatic assumptions that may or may not be correct. Distinctions are limited as much as is possible in the classroom. We are all simply students, with a classroom facilitator. If categories must be drawn for some reason, it is between "Inside" and "Outside" students.

I could continue on and on about the discussions this evening. We talked about creating safe classroom discussions, about challenges to creating and facilitating the classes, about the Program's history and philosophy, and about our schedule for the week. We have a lot coming up: a ton to plan for and prepare. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll be touring a jail in Philadelphia. Thursday we'll spend all day in Graterford Prison, meeting with the Inside-Out Think Tank, which is made up of outside professors and Inside co-directors, most of whom are serving life sentences.

I have homework to do and more reflections to write down. We're in a beautiful place: a retreat center an hour outside of Philadelphia. There are lightning bugs outside and trails to walk down. There's a library of books and movies: materials addressing prison issues, pedagogy, the program, and strategies of social justice organizations.

It's an exciting time, friends and readers! If you'll indulge me, I would like to write several more times this week, keeping you posted on this exciting program and the things I am learning.

For now, I'm signing off to go do some reading. In line for tonight: a sample curriculum, an article written by Lori Pompa, the National Director, skimming a book called Values Clarification, and maybe some more writing about all of this.

My head is spinning!