Foreword: Prison Education in England and Wales: A Critical Analysis Inside and Out

This is an excellent book. I experienced a range of emotions when I read the text, including anger, joy and pain. I am angry that the prison education system has been allowed to decline to such an extent. After all, education is a human right. I felt joy when I read Scott’s educational journey in prison and his experiences reaffirm to me the importance of educational opportunities in carceral spaces. I experienced feelings of sadness and pain when I read about some of the experiences of those prisoners who are neurodivergent or those with learning difficulties or disabilities who are further disadvantaged by an education system that does not meet their needs.

As a teacher educator, I am now considering what I can do in my role to develop future prison educators. As a sector, there is an urgent need to develop courses which provide specialist training pathways into prison education. Many pre-service teachers that I work with will never have considered a career working in prisons. Some will not even realize that education takes place within prisons or young offenders’ institutions. Raising awareness of the career options is something which, after reading this book, I will now focus on a personal commitment to promoting social justice.

I am also now more acutely aware of the impact of school exclusion in terms of the way in which it places children on a pathway into the criminal justice system. Many children who experience exclusion have already been disadvantaged in their lives. Exclusion creates another layer of disadvantage. Incarceration further disadvantages them. We need to ask important questions about why certain groups of children are disproportionally affected by exclusion and we need to limit the damage by ensuring that exclusion is used a last resort. The strength of the book is the use of rich, personal insights from the authors and the interweaving of educational content with criminology related content. The book is well structured and fascinating to read. Glazzard and Thomas have produced a well-considered framework at the end of the book which offers a potential solution to some of the challenges raised. I will ensure that I recommend this book to my students.