一次独一无二的教育经历

12岁的Matt DelSesto在萨福克县惩教所外. 摄影:Caitlin Cunningham. 

While Matt DelSesto ’12 was studying human development and philosophy as an undergraduate student in 电子游戏软件’s Lynch School of 教育 and Human Development, 他报名参加了大学的热门活动 脉冲 该项目将课堂学习与波士顿地区的服务实习相结合. 他被安置在萨福克郡惩教所, 这是一所中等安全级别的监狱，位于栗子山以东大约10英里处, 他的导师是吉姆·迪齐奥, the prison’s director of education (and an alumnus of the Lynch School where he earned a graduate degree in 1990).

位置, 以及脉冲课程, 开始九个月后就结束了, 而是DelSesto对监狱教育的兴趣, 以及他和迪齐奥的关系, 才刚刚开始. 十多年后, DelSesto是矫正之家两个教育项目背后的推动者, 与电子游戏软件合作运营: 由内而外的计划, 是什么让BC省的学生和被监禁的人一起学习刑事司法, 而新推出的 大学衔接课程, which prepares incarcerated men and women to navigate the logistics of higher education upon their release.

社会学系的兼职教员, DelSesto在这两个项目中进行协调和教学, strengthening 电子游戏软件’s connection with the wider community and opening up access to transformative learning experiences for students of all backgrounds.

“他正在做的事情令人惊讶,大卫·古德曼说, 林奇商学院负责战略计划和对外关系的副院长. “如果没有他，这一切都不会发生——他是发起者, 的催化剂, 以及这一切背后的能量.”

构建程序

The original Inside-Out Program began 25 years ago in a Pennsylvania prison and has since grown into an international network of more than 200 correctional and higher education partnerships. DelSesto first encountered it while working as a horticultural therapist at the Rikers Island jails in New York, and was struck by the power of the model to promote meaningful dialogue between those with diverse backgrounds and life experiences. 当他最终回到电子游戏软件攻读博士学位时.D. 在社会学方面，他找到古德曼，讨论为哈佛大学开设一门由内而外的课程. 接下来他给迪齐奥和社会学教授斯蒂芬·福尔打了电话, 谁渴望在这项工作上进行合作, 2017年, 该小组获得了100美元的奖金,从赫斯特基金会获得了1万美元的赠款来实施他们的计划.

“I thought the whole idea was a good thing but the selling point for me was that incarcerated individuals would actually become enrolled members of the 电子游戏软件 community,迪齐奥说. “这是强大的. 他们获得了BC学分，他们的成绩单是电子游戏软件的成绩单.”

一年后, 这是《电子游戏软件》的第一次出版, 修正, 和正义,出现在电子游戏软件的课程目录中, 对林奇学院的学生开放, 伍兹高等教育学院, 以及莫里西文理学院, 以及萨福克郡惩教所的合格男女. The first cohort of 20 students (10 from BC and 10 from the prison) gathered inside the correctional facility in the fall of 2018.

许多人不确定会发生什么, 包括东金·瓦斯奎兹, 第一批电子游戏软件的“内部”学生之一, who remembers 感觉 “unsure about how these 电子游戏软件 students would view us…[since we have] much different backgrounds compared to them.而瓦斯奎兹之前就读于邦克山社区学院, 他的一些同龄人从未上过大学. 在电子游戏软件的学生中，有些人从未进过监狱.

DelSesto将课程设计为以讨论为基础, in order to break down barriers and encourage students to share and learn from one another’s experiences, 学术和生活. 他说，自从他开始教授这门课程以来，这门课程从来没有失败过.

“Over the course of the semester it really does become a group that is learning side-by-side as peers,他说. “人们来自不同的角度，这有助于我们对一个问题的理解. A lot of inside students have experiences that aren’t reflected in academic research articles and it raises questions that really push everyone’s knowledge.”

自从这门课程首次推出以来，BC省学生对这门课程的兴趣猛增, which Goodman attributes partially to a growing interest in criminal justice issues (many students reached out after reading about the 电子游戏软件监狱教育项目(于2019年推出)，以及对体验式学习的欣赏.

“They know the difference between learning about something and learning within something and immersing themselves in it,古德曼说。. “我认为人们确实渴望更多的应用, 至关重要的, 以及活生生的学习方式, where you’re literally set up to get in touch with your assumptions and how different life experiences lead to very different ways of seeing, 感觉, 生活在这个世界上.”

改变生活

对一些学生来说，这门课程对他们的学业和职业轨迹产生了持久的影响. 受到他的经验和他在Inside-Out获得的荣誉的鼓舞, Vasquez re-enrolled at Bunker Hill Community College after his release and earned his associates degree in the spring of 2022. 他最近开始在波士顿流浪者医疗中心担任病例经理, 他在哪里支持那些与精神健康和药物滥用作斗争的人. 在不久的将来，他希望攻读刑事司法学士学位.

“这个由内而外的项目让我相信，人们可以改变现有的制度，”他说. “这一切都始于改变我们对它的看法.”

Sheridan Miller ’20 was inspired to pursue a career in prison education after enrolling in the course in the fall of 2019. 作为林奇学校学习少年司法的学生, 她熟悉从学校到监狱的管道以及课程中涉及的其他主题, 但正是这种独特的环境使她的学习达到了一个新的水平, 她说.

“It was one of the best classes I took at BC because of the depth and breadth of the conversations I got to have, especially with my inside peers about their educational journeys and what their day-to-day looks like within the carceral system,”她说。. “在不列颠哥伦比亚省，我们非常强调为他人做男人和女人，为他人服务, 这很好, 但有时你与你真正希望服务的人脱节了. 这门课不是服务，你们只是在聊天.”

毕业后两年, 米勒是新英格兰高等教育委员会政策和电子游戏正规平台助理主任, where she leads a grant-funded initiative convening stakeholders from across the region involved in prison higher education programs. The goal is to “get everyone at the same table” in order to streamline and improve services for incarcerated students prior to the 2023-24 academic year, 他们何时才有资格获得联邦政府的佩尔助学金.

去年秋天, Miller enrolled in a master’s program at the Harvard Graduate School of 教育 where she’s studying education policy. 她不太确定自己的职业未来会是什么样子, but knows she wants to continue to improve and expand programs that bring higher education to students behind bars.

“这是我对教育政策最大的热情，”她说. “A lot of that is thanks to the Lynch School and the real experience I got with the Inside-Out Program.”

展望未来

One of the biggest challenges Sheridan faces in her current role is also one that DelSesto’s newest program, 大学衔接课程, is designed to address: how to ensure incarcerated students who enroll in higher education programs reap the benefit of their experience after they’re released.