Working with Incarcerated Students

First and foremost, remember that tutoring in a correctional classroom is very different in some ways from tutoring in a regular classroom. These tips should help you address some unique challenges you may face in the correctional classroom.

• Stay focused and professional at all times. It’s natural to want to know more about the students you tutor, but it’s absolutely critical that you refrain from getting too friendly. The DOC does not look kindly on what it views as “fraternization” between tutors and students, so for everyone’s sake, maintain professional boundaries in your tutoring relationships. It’s okay to be friendly, but don’t share personal information with your students and don’t ask them to share it with you. It is especially inappropriate to ask a student what he/she has done to be incarcerated! You cannot always avoid a student giving you information you didn’t request, but you can redirect the conversation back to the topic at hand.
• Be patient. Many incarcerated students have not experienced academic success in traditional classrooms and lack self-confidence when it comes to academics. Move through the material at a pace that’s clearly comfortable for them. Be encouraging and never judgmental. Sometimes it may feel like you’re making no progress at all, but every time you go in and tutor, you’re reinforcing to the student the importance of committing to education.
• Adapt. You will most likely work with different students each week; you will also work with different levels of student preparation and academic material. Become as familiar as you can with the overall GED requirements for the subject(s) you’ve elected to tutor, and be ready to adapt each time you walk into the classroom.
• Work with the teachers, not against them. Though it may sometimes appear that there is no standard curriculum in use in the classroom, correctional education professionals must deal with a wide range of student needs in a single setting. Trust the teachers’ judgment about the students who need the most help, listen to the information and feedback they give you, and seek guidance when you need it.
• Be objective. There is a very clear power dynamic between DOC staff and inmates; while we are there for educational purposes, the DOC is above all a penal institution and it functions as such. Non-educational DOC staff may ask you why you “waste your time” going into the prison; the students you tutor may grumble about prison conditions. Don’t get involved; instead, view yourself as the center point of a seesaw – your job is to remain objective and balanced in all circumstances.
• Avoid favoritism. As with all educational settings, you will likely be drawn to work with some students over others. Be fair in your treatment of all students. Unless you’re uncomfortable working with a student for a specific reason, commit to tutoring whoever needs the most help when you’re there.
• Exhibit a positive, non-judgmental attitude towards students. We refer to the students we tutor as “students”, not as “inmates”, because we are there for academic purposes. The less we know about our students’ outside lives, the less likely we are to judge them for their actions and the more likely we can stay focused on helping them succeed academically.
• Report problems in a timely manner. If ANY problems arise during your time at the facility, report them immediately to the classroom teacher. Please also follow up by alerting a Petey Greene staff person as soon as possible. Even the smallest incident can become a major problem if it goes unaddressed.