Transformative Education Behind Bars
Transformative Education Behind Bars (TEBB) aims to coalesce a partnership and create an agenda among nonprofit and university educators that makes transformative education behind bars possible. TEBB is an initiative sponsored by the University of Washington Simpson Center for the Humanities.
By gathering lead educators across University of Washington departments and schools, regional institutions of higher education (community colleges, state colleges, and private colleges), and local non-profits, Transformative Education Behind Bars aims to:
- Create a community of educators invested in college education behind bars and educational access in Washington State;
- Create a community of researchers to assess current prison-based education efforts from multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral perspectives;
- Co-develop relevant and effective liberal arts curriculum for the general prison population and for the Associates Degree;
- Co-develop curriculum and program assessment plans with all involved stakeholders (including students behind bars);
- Disseminate model curriculum and pedagogies and reflections on their development;
- Extend public education about the current prison system and socially just alternatives.
In 2010-11, TEBB activities included a planning retreat, monthly meetings, and a spring symposium that will serve to review the year’s research, curriculum, and program development. TEBB successfully won funding for a second iteration in the academic year 2011-12.
Sign up for the TEBB listserv to receive notice of upcoming activities and visit their website for more information.
TEBB hosts national prison conference at Univeristy of Washington, November 4-6, 2011
Transformative Education Behind Bars (TEBB) is hosting a national conference for higher education prison programs on November 4 and 5 at the University of Washington Seattle campus. This conference brings together leaders of prison education programs across the country for a weekend of information sharing and discussion about the successes and challenges of running prison higher education programs. The conference will begin on Friday, November 4 with a visit to the UBB program at Washington State Reformatory, where conference guests will learn about the UBB model and participate in a panel discussion with UBB’s Prisoners Advisory Committee. The tentative agenda for the remainder of the conference includes developing models for program assessment, meeting funding demands, and impacting public opinion and policy.
Transformative Education Behind Bars is an initiative organized by Gillian Harkins, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs, and English instructor, University Beyond Bars. Contact Gillian at gharkins@u.washington.edu or visit the website.