CPIA and education in prison. Andragogic skills to foster inclusive pathways for detained students

Abstract

The educational activities carried out in prisons are of fundamental importance for the educational inclusion of prisoners and for the protection of social cohesion. The paper presents the results of qualitative research on the role played by andragogic competences of teachers, who carry out educational activities in prisons within the CPIAs. The research focused attention, among the andragogic competences, on the crucial role played by experience and its enhancement in promoting a path of educational inclusion of detained students. The results made it possible to identify the factors hindering the enhancement of the previous experience of detained students and, for some of them, their possible overcoming through the understanding of spaces for intervention. These factors are located within three conceptual areas, which concern the structure of penitentiary institutions, the characteristics of the teacher and the characteristics of the incarcerated students.