2A: How to achieve success in teaching, training and learning

Teacher training

The new qualifications framework and subject specifications for literacy, numeracy and ESOL teachers must form the basis of all future qualifications gained by specialist subject teachers involved in prison provision. Thus teachers of literacy, numeracy and ESOL must be suitably qualified to nationally recognised standards. They should have attended training in the use of the adult literacy, numeracy, ESOL and pre-entry curricula as appropriate. In addition, they should all be familiar with the principles of the Access for All documentation. More vocational tutors must be trained to have basic skills expertise and be able to meet prisoners’ basic skills needs within vocational contexts. Teaching and learning observation documentation should be reviewed to ensure that literacy, numeracy and English language support is embedded in all lesson plans, schemes of work and tutorial records. Regular staff training to support teaching and learning will ensure that all tutors are confident with the changes resulting from the Skills for Life strategy.

In effective provision, all literacy, numeracy and ESOL staff are well qualified to teach literacy, numeracy and language, but in addition, the majority of staff in education who work in IT, cookery, health and safety and social and life skills also hold specialist basic skills qualifications.

All volunteers and support workers should also undertake recognised initial training in supporting literacy, numeracy and ESOL development. These staff must be of high calibre, be skilfully deployed and well supervised to ensure that prisoners receive the help that they need.

In summary, all new teachers and volunteer assistants must work towards achieving literacy, numeracy or ESOL qualifications and existing staff should have access to continuous professional development to update their skills.

Learning styles

Successful providers ensure that all prisoners complete a learning styles questionnaire at induction to establish their preferred style of learning. Detailed records of these are kept and taken into account when designing courses for prisoners. Tutors endeavour to adapt their teaching methods to take into account the varied ways learners learn, catering for those who learn better visually, by auditory means or prisoners who prefer to experience learning by doing – tactile or kinaesthetic learners.

All tutors refer to the Access for All documentation for strategies to support the needs of this diverse group of prisoners, including those with specific difficulties and disabilities. Use may also be made of Reaching All, an inclusive learning handbook for prisons and young offenders’ institutions, supporting people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. This publication was the result of work by a multi-agency national working party. Many prisons that are achieving success in their literacy, numeracy and ESOL provision set aside additional one-to-one teaching and learning sessions to support prisoners who need additional help, for example, because of dyslexia. Such support is particularly well received by prisoners.

Individual learning plans, which should set clear and challenging short-term targets for skills development, must be informed by a detailed assessment of learners’ needs. These assessments must be sensitively and methodically applied. Prisoners’ prior knowledge and interests must be taken into consideration in the formulation of short-, medium- and long-term goals. In effective practice, the contents of the learning programme must be negotiated with the learner and all targets must be referenced to the national standards in literacy, numeracy or ESOL.

It is important that teachers encourage prisoners to take responsibility for their own learning, and to be analytical about how best they learn. They should be offered ample opportunities to apply their skills and knowledge in work and real-life contexts. One prison encourages learners to evaluate their own performance either on diary sheets or through the wider key skill of Improving Own Learning and Performance.

Teaching strategies

Teachers will need a strong awareness of the range of teaching strategies and pedagogy to promote literacy, numeracy and language development. Careful planning and preparation will ensure the use of a variety of teaching modes and methods. These include, for example, whole-group activities, working in small groups, pair work, individual work and role-play, which is particularly useful for language learning. Teaching techniques include writing frames, cloze exercises and scaffolding techniques, all of which are effective in engaging learning, and sustaining the interest of learners.

Teachers should employ open and closed questioning techniques to develop prisoners’ analytical and critical thinking, and to allow learners of all abilities to contribute equally to group discussions. Extension work needs to be used to reinforce and consolidate learning, and to maintain the interest of those learners who learn quickly.

Planned lesson outcomes must be SMART – specific, manageable, achievable, realistic and timed. Effective teachers plan and organise activities according to the ability levels of the prisoners and differentiate their written and oral questions according to prisoners’ needs. All prisoners must be suitably challenged in daily sessions and should be encouraged to practise and apply the skills and concepts that they have learned in context. Teachers should also use more direct teaching strategies to teach new terminology and concepts, introduce new skills and consolidate or extend previous work.

Individual sessions should link to prisoners’ longer term objectives. Topics for discussions, including skills and knowledge development, must be based within the broader context of prisoners’ needs and motivations. Teachers in one prison link basic and key skills to NVQ programmes taught in the plastics workshop, physical education programmes, jobs courses and Open College Network social and life skills courses. This prison is developing more linked courses in relevant industries and the catering sector. Effective practice means that the curriculum offers greater flexibility and choice to motivate particularly challenging groups of learners, and to put their individual needs at the heart of the planning and teaching process.

Learning materials

All learning materials must take due consideration of the needs and interest of all prisoners, avoid stereotyping and promote cultural diversity and equality of opportunity. Materials should also offer some scope for differentiation and offer prisoners the opportunity to acquire and develop their literacy, numeracy and language skills.

All materials that are used to promote literacy, numeracy and ESOL skills should be mapped to the national standards. The Skills for Life learning materials, which have detailed guidance and notes for tutors, should be put to good use by teachers. The differentiated and extension activities have been particularly welcomed by those delivering literacy, numeracy and language programmes.

Training teachers to use good-quality learning materials is an integral part of the Skills for Life strategy to help providers offer high-quality learning programmes for adult learners. All good prison providers ensure that teachers avail themselves of these training programmes and use the materials, which have undergone rigorous quality assurance procedures and are referenced to the national standards and curricula for literacy, numeracy and ESOL.

Vocational materials

Vocationally linked materials will ensure that prisoners see the relevance of literacy, numeracy and ESOL to their programmes of study. Teachers must endeavour to place prisoners on an appropriate programme of learning that relates to the national standards and that meets each prisoner’s needs. In a prison context, it may not always be possible to achieve an ideal match between a prisoner’s aims and aspirations and the programme of learning, but as close a match as possible should be the aim. Teachers should be skilled in using the adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL curricula and Access for All as tools to customise resources to suit workplace contexts and settings.

ICT and e-learning

The Skills for Life strategy places a strong emphasis on the use of ICT to promote good-quality teaching and successful learning. Many effective prison providers ensure that computers are available in every classroom. Used proficiently and with careful planning, the computer and associated ICT resources are vital learning tools. ICT is a strong motivator and a most useful resource in promoting literacy, numeracy and language skills in the prison context.

However, ICT must be seen as part of a whole learning programme, and planning the use of ICT as part of that programme must always begin with the learning objectives. Experienced teachers ensure that prisoners do not become distracted by the intricacies of particular software, but instead keep the learning objective and task in mind.

Initial screening and assessment

There must be systematic procedures for assessments and monitoring of learning support. Effective practice not only makes a distinction between screening, and initial and diagnostic assessments, but also plans each one as a separate stage in the assessment process. While screening will discover whether a prisoner has potential literacy, numeracy and language needs, the initial assessment will establish the prisoner’s level in relation to the national standards.

Diagnostic assessment must be preceded by an interview, which will throw up issues such as lack of confidence and attitudes to reading and number skills. Potential barriers, as well as prisoners’ preferred learning styles, could well be established at this stage. In addition, the diagnostic assessment will identify a prisoner’s strengths and any specific difficulties. Diagnostic assessment must be individual, specific and referenced to the curriculum. Close and careful consideration must be give to the principles underlying the application of assessments, and assessment tools must have undergone trials for validity, reliability and fairness.

The information from the diagnostic assessment and interview and the assessment of a prisoner’s performance will inform the goals contained in that learner’s individual learning plan. This should have clear and challenging short-term targets for skills and knowledge development. Effective diagnostic assessments enable properly targeted teaching to take place. Good teachers will use the outcome of the process effectively. In the best practice, teachers ensure that prisoners’ prior skills, knowledge and interests inform this planning process.

Interview techniques

It is effective practice to use a checklist of questions to ask prisoners at the initial and diagnostic interview stages. However, this stage of the procedure must be handled sensitively, and careful consideration must be given to questioning techniques, as prisoners are more likely to be sensitive to probing by teachers. As one prison teacher puts it, ‘Remember, a lot of them have been questioned to death.’ They certainly do not need another inquisition, however well-meaning teachers may be.

Vocational and literacy, numeracy and ESOL assessment

Besides these nationally managed procedures, some prison providers have found it effective to employ their own vocationally linked assessments for prisoners. These tests determine whether prisoners have the literacy, numeracy and language skills necessary for the specific demands of a course of study, rather than simply assessing their general levels of literacy and numeracy. This combination of specialist subject knowledge, together with basic screening techniques, has succeeded in encouraging vocational teachers to consider the relevance of literacy, numeracy and language to the subjects they teach.

In summary, the most effective providers adopt a holistic approach to literacy, numeracy and language development. Programmes need careful design and planning, with thorough consideration of teaching methods, assessment procedures, use of resources, learning contexts and settings.

Progress reviews

Regular reviews of prisoners’ progress must be integral to the formative assessment process. Formative assessment processes are used by effective providers not only to evaluate prisoners’ progress and set new targets, but also to evaluate teaching and gather evidence of achievement. This process must take account of the ‘distance travelled’ by prisoners. Periodic reviews should inform decisions concerning further diagnostic assessments and future learning targets. Formal and informal methods of formative assessments are useful, but whatever method is used, assessment should always be made explicit to the prisoner.

Assessments must be appropriately recorded and feedback must be given in a positive manner, and used to revise the prisoner’s learning programme.

The recording of individual achievement is one key dimension of the Skills for Life teaching and learning infrastructure. Not only should teachers ensure that prisoners’ progress is measured, but all prisoners should be encouraged to gain nationally recognised accreditation. Programmes of learning for prisoners should promote opportunities to work towards national qualifications and should be supported by the regime for key performance target purposes. In some prisons, non-accredited programmes are available and prisoners are encouraged to participate in them to improve their skills levels, aid the resettlement process and build their confidence in preparation for assessment leading to national qualifications.

Formative assessment

Effective teachers carry out regular formative assessments of prisoners’ progress against the goals in their ILPs. In addition to periodic progress reviews, the best prison education providers have daily sessional records of work which provide the basis for ongoing formative assessment. These provide prisoners with opportunities to reflect on their achievements in lessons and the anticipated outcomes. Evidence for key skills portfolios and Entry Level qualifications offers opportunities for groupwork, discussion, talks and constructive feedback. All sessions, including any accompanying materials, must take account of the national standards and the national curricula, and prisoners’ achievements should be recorded in a manner sufficiently robust to provide accountability for the funding received.

In summary, the most effective practice adopts a holistic approach to literacy, numeracy and language development. Programmes need careful design and planning, with thorough consideration of teaching methods, assessment procedures, use of resources, learning contexts and settings.

One prison establishment offers prisoners the opportunity to gain Entry Level qualifications in literacy and numeracy. Prisoners at Levels 1 and 2 collect evidence towards their key skills portfolios and sit the national tests in literacy and numeracy. Those on long-term stay have the opportunity to secure a full key skill in communication on application of number whilst others secure national certificates in literacy and numeracy.

Summative assessment

The summative or end-of-phase accreditation process is particularly useful in validating the personal achievement of prisoners. Accreditation helps meet the Government’s Skills for Life targets. More importantly, the recognition of external accreditation by employers is an added bonus for this client group, who need all the help they can get on release. The progress of all prisoners should be reported to sentence-planning staff, lifer review boards, home leave boards and probation and wing staff, as appropriate.

Successful providers continually monitor the quality and rigour of the internal moderation process, which should be in line with the policy of the provider. Internal verification processes must also ensure consistency and maintain standards. Prisoners’ portfolios should be verified by well-trained and qualified internal verifiers, who meet regularly to review and monitor the effectiveness of the procedure. All assessors must have specialist literacy, numeracy or ESOL qualifications and be well trained to assess prisoners’ work against set criteria.

All teachers must attend regular training on how to interpret prisoners’ performance on assessment tasks. Ongoing support must be provided to all new teachers, including constructive comments and suggestions for improvements.

Moderators’ reports should show clear evidence of consistency in standards across all provision. A copy of the moderator’s report must be sent to the senior manager responsible for the provision to ensure that the action points are carried out. Moderation and verification procedures must be used to promote consistency in standards.