Challenges facing a Māori prison education leader

Abstract

Māori are severely over-represented in the prison population of Aotearoa New Zealand, making up over half of all prisoners, despite being only about 15% of the national population. These Māori statistics are well-known, and support racist perceptions of Māori in general. There is substantial literature on Māori imprisonment in Criminology and related fields, but it mostly focuses on ‘fixing’ the prisoner. Prison education is a neglected topic in extant educational research. Little research exists on the experiences of those who work in prisons, and little or none about the experiences of Māori prison educators. Prison education focuses on changing behaviours that lead to offending and helping prisoners to gain work and life skills. But security concerns and managing the prison population take precedence and restrict the availability and priority given to education. The recent Hōkai Rangi strategy has generated enthusiasm, but has yet to translate into positive results.

Effective Online Course Delivery in Correctional Settings: A Pilot

“…While studies have shown that delivering higher education to individuals involved with the criminal justice system reduces recidivism rates (Castro, 2018;Fullilove, Cortes, Gamarra, & Maxis, 2020;O'Brien, King, Phillips, & Kath, 2021), it has taken several decades for researchers and stakeholders to demonstrate the magnitude of this impact to governing agencies (Batiuk et al, 1997;Curtis, 2021;Evans, 2018;Nally, 2012). Even though the research is enviably clear, that higher education directly impacts recidivism, there are still several barriers that need to be addressed (Gashi, 2021;Gould, 2018;Ludlow, Armstrong, & Bartels, 2019;Te Pere & Stewart, 2021). Erzen et al, (2019) says the "lack of oversight and accountability within the prison setting, the complex needs of students, and the material scarcity that pervades the field" are common barriers that need to be addressed in higher education for incarcerated individuals.…”