Bridging a Gap of Understanding: A Model of Experiential Learning for Incarcerated Students and Non-Incarcerated Undergraduates

Authors

Dale Brown, Western Michigan UniversityFollow
Zoann K. Snyder, Western Michigan UniversityFollow

Keywords

experiential Learning, community engagement, service learning, Inside-Out

Abstract

Service learning has evolved as a primary experience-based curriculum for undergraduate students. But much of what universities put forward as service learning is not a genuine engagement with community partners to help advance meaningful social change to address social problems. In this paper, we outline our preliminary attempt to do just that—what we call The Bridge Model. The discussion that follows occurs in the context of a semester-long project between undergraduate students at a Midwestern University (MU) and incarcerated participants from the university’s prison education program. First, we briefly situate the partnership in terms of its theoretical background in experiential learning and focus on critical service learning. Second, we explain the nature of our collaboration in terms of its aims and framework. Third, we position our Bridge model as a helpful alternative on a continuum with another prominent form of alliance—the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. Fourth, we provide project samples that typify our model. Fifth, we outline the value of our approach to service learning using data derived from student reflection papers and lay out some of the challenges we faced in the project’s implementation. Finally, we contemplate the road ahead.

Author Bio

Dale Brown is a Ph.D. student in the Interdisciplinary Studies program and an MA student in the Educational Foundations program at Western Michigan University. He is the founder and director of the WMU Prison Education Outreach Program, and teaches philosophy courses at the Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, MI.

Zoann Snyder is an Associate Professor and Criminal Justice Studies Program Director in the Sociology Department at Western Michigan University. For over 15 years, she has expanded experiential learning opportunities for sociology undergraduates at WMU via service learning, internships, community-based research, and study abroad.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25771/q05x-vp37

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

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