Michigan hosts National Inside-Out Instructor Training

The Theory Group at Ryan Correctional Facility hosted the first National Instructor Training to take place outside of Pennsylvania the week of May 9th. They trained instructors from the Midwest, walking the group through the process of teaching an Inside-Out class.

The curriculum for instructor training was developed by the Think Tank in Graterford Prison outside of Philadelphia. The training involves a week of intensive conversations and exercises, including four days on the outside, and three days spent in the prison, working with a group of inside and outside alumni. They create course curriculum, and test out exercises with the inside group. They read and discuss some of the foundational texts of transformative teaching methods, particularly focusing on Paulo Freire and bell hooks, which leads to the format of openness and mutual learning that is so key to the Inside-Out experience.

Reports back from the Michigan training indicate that the Theory Group (the group of inside and outside participants who meet on an ongoing basis) are an incredibly tight-knit community, who are committed to Inside-Out and to supporting one another as they become regional and national leaders in prison education.

What they've accomplished in forming their community and in hosting this training, is an inspiration to all of us who do this work. Thank you for your commitment and your vision. Hopefully these stories from Michigan will keep coming in!

Philadelphia to hold an Alumni Training

The Philadelphia Alumni group will be holding a training tomorrow, January 15th, to prepare for their work with Community College of Philadelphia's work with a re-entry program. The training is designed to improve facilitation skills and to discuss the various preparation needs to engage in this kind of work.

Lori Pompa will be leading the training, with the help of Philadelphia alumni coordinators Frank and Cyndi. The training will run from 10 am to 6 pm and will include discussions of program rules, parameters, values, goals, and a space to express any concerns the participants might have. Facilitating dialogue and running the class is a major focus of the training, and will hopefully help the group create a dynamic and engaged classroom environment to enable leadership from all participants.

Hopefully all participants will finish the training with a strong grasp on the theoretical and practical issues of the program, and will therefore take strong leadership in the future of the project. Another hope is that the training templates from Philadelphia and Oregon can be blended to offer alumni facilitation trainings across the country.

Alumni Training held at the UO

In preparation for the Serbu book club project, five Inside-Out alumni at the University of Oregon participated in a mini facilitation training hosted by Melissa Crabbe, Inside-Out Assistant National Director.

Over the course of two meetings, we learned basics of group fascilitation and discussed many of the techniques, questions, and potential problems that arise when conducting Inside-Out-style programs. We brainstormed issues that might arise through working with youth instead of adults on the inside, and worked together to troubleshoot our classroom practices. Melissa led us in a discussion about diversity and the difficult conversations that could arise.

In addition to the practical and much-needed information we gained from our six-hour training, we also had a chance to bond as a group of leaders. Inside-Out has an incredible model of self-leadership for trainings, so that we spend most of the training session imagining potential questions or issues, and then brainstorming solutions. Melissa was the facilitator of our collective learning process, which also provided a model for our own class meetings.

As our group grows over the coming year, we hope to hold future trainings for the outside alumni to be trained in leadershp techniques and program ideology and practices. We also hope that someday in the future these trainings might be led by alumni themselves, and that the students in the trainings might eventually include the incarcerated youth who participate in our book club.

All future plans and dreams aside, we entered our first class as leaders with some practical and exciting new skills and group unity. We are so lucky that Melissa is willing and available to help us! I look forward to sharing stories of future training programs in the future.