Education in prisons across England and Wales: Towards a future framework for effective learning spaces

Blog post Part of series: ��ɫ�� Conference 2025

Education in prisons across England and Wales: Towards a future framework for effective learning spaces

Morwenna Bennallick, Senior Lecturer at University of Westminster Jayne Finlay, Lecturer in Librarianship at University of Sheffield Ross Little, Senior lecturer at De Montfort University 8 Sep 2025

What could learning spaces in prison be like? This question has guided our reflective research process, prompting us to reflect critically on existing practice and to create an emerging framework of principles to support the creation of effective learning spaces in prisons.

Education in prison is typically underresourced, poorly attended and often limited or uninspiring for those that do attend. Unlike education delivered elsewhere in society, such as mainstream schools, universities and colleges, the value of learning in prison is typically assessed by its ability to impact the future offending trajectory of the student. This narrow view of prison-based education has a tendency to shape what is taught, how it is structured, and the metrics by which such provision is deemed successful or worthwhile. This means the focus can inadvertently fall to the wider criminal justice agendas of reducing reoffending and increasing employability, leading to a restrictive preoccupation with low-level qualifications and a restrictive curriculum (Little & Warr, 2022). The vast majority of provision is limited to level 2 or below with a focus on basic English, Maths and IT alongside courses intended to promote skills for future employment.

‘Education in prison is typically underresourced, poorly attended and often limited or uninspiring for those that do attend.’

Exploring learning spaces

Given this context, we argue for a shift in perspective which foregrounds pedagogical principles instead of instrumental outcomes of education. Rather than focusing on the content, curriculum and purpose of education in prison we focus on the nature of spaces, processes and relationships that facilitates learning for adults in prison. We take as our starting point the distinct ‘emotional geographies’ that characterise learning spaces in prison – spaces that, despite existing within a wider environment characterised by high levels of security and control, can enable a temporary sense of safety, support and autonomy (Crewe et al., 2014).

Collectively, our research explores diverse educational experiences across a range of settings within the prison estate, with work spanning the education department (Nichols, 2021), the prison library (Finlay, 2020), the prison wing (Bennallick, 2019) and prison–university partnerships (Little, 2024). We therefore recognise the prison education department – and the curriculum provided within it – as an incomplete picture of the learning environments and experiences within prisons.

Through careful reflection on the shared conditions which underpin these spaces, we can better understand the principles and practices which nurture effective learning spaces in the particular environment of the prison.

An emerging framework

Our participation in the 2023 ��ɫ�� Conference panel on learning cultures in prison prompted ongoing collaborative reflection on shared themes within our interdisciplinary work on adult prisoners’ experiences of education (Nichols, 2018), prison–university partnerships (Little, 2024), prison-based learning culture (Bennallick, 2019) and informal learning in prison libraries (Finlay, 2020). Regular meetings provided a space for sustained dialogue where we interpreted our research data collectively, identifying recurring themes that illuminate what makes prison learning spaces unique, and how they might be improved. This led to the development of a shared conceptual framework for creating effective spaces for learning in prisons. The emergent thematic areas of this framework are trust, co-production, autonomy and choice, nested within an overarching theme of power. We argue that these provide important pedagogical values and considerations when building learning spaces and relationships within prisons.

Beyond education in prison

While our research themes derive from our work in prison spaces, we recognise the value of considering their wider relevance for learning spaces across institutional contexts, including higher education institutions.

Please join us in discussing the themes that comprise our emerging framework at the ��ɫ�� Conference 2025. We very much look forward to discussing our ideas with delegates from across the educational landscape.

References

Bennallick, M., (2019). The open academy: An exploration of a prison-based learning culture (Doctoral dissertation, Royal Holloway, University of London).

Crewe, B., Warr, J., Bennett, P., & Smith, A. (2014). The emotional geography of prison life. Theoretical Criminology, 18(1), 56–74.

Finlay, J. (2020). Exploring the role of the library in the learning experiences of people in prison. (Doctoral dissertation, Ulster University).

Little, R. E. (2024). Co-producing learning space in a prison-university partnership. Journal of Prison Education Research, 8(1).

Little, R., & Warr, J. (2022). Abstraction, belonging and comfort in the prison classroom. Incarceration, 3(3).

Nichols, H. (2021). Understanding the educational experiences of imprisoned men (1st ed.). Routledge Frontiers of Criminal Justice.

Morwenna Bennallick, Dr

Senior Lecturer at University of Westminster

Dr Morwenna Bennallick is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Westminster. She completed her PhD research in 2019 at Royal Holloway, University of London. Morwenna’s research and pedagogical interests concern the experiences of, and access to, learning in prison and for people with experience of imprisonment. Her PhD research explored the learning cultures curated through a higher-level learning initiative based on a prison wing. She currently leads Westminster University foundation modules in prisons across England and Wales. She previously ran a prison-university partnership module for university and incarcerated students in HMYOI Feltham. Morwenna previously held the role of Senior Policy and Research Officer at Prisoners’ Education Trust where she set up and ran two national networks for prison education research and collaborative practice between prisons and universities. Morwenna is currently exploring experiences of higher-level teaching in prisons. She...

Jayne Finlay, Dr

Lecturer in Librarianship at University of Sheffield

Dr Jayne Finlay is a lecturer in Librarianship in the Information School at the University of Sheffield, where she leads the distance learning Library and Information Services Management programme. She is a qualified library and information professional, with experience of working in academic libraries. Jayne’s research interests lie primarily in the field of prison librarianship, where her research has spanned user engagement with prison libraries, the prison library as an informal learning space, prison-based family literacy programmes, and prison officers’ perceptions of library services. In 2021, she led a national review of prison library provision in Ireland. She has recently worked on an Arts Council England project to raise the profile of prison libraries in the UK. She works closely with CILIP’s Prison Libraries Group to support the professional development of prison library staff and advocate for improved access to library services for people in and leaving prison.

Ross Little, Mr

Senior lecturer at De Montfort University

Ross Little is a senior lecturer in criminology and criminal justice at De Montfort University. In recent times, his research and development work has focused on how we create safe and trustworthy spaces for learning in prisons. His recently published academic articles explore the co-production of a prison classroom space within a prison-university partnership, focusing on what matters most for learners. He is interested to further understand how higher education institutions and prisons can work together effectively, the focus of a recent HEIF funding award and a national stakeholder event. Ross has previously written about children’s education in prison. He leads teaching modules focusing on children, young people and the criminal justice system. He has volunteered as a trustee with The National Association for Youth Justice for over a decade, undertaking the roles of Chair and Deputy Chair for the Board of Trustees within this time. He is a Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE.