Blended Learning Environment for European Prisoners Erasmus Project

Project Title

Blended Learning Environment for European Prisoners

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Reaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Recognition (non-formal and informal learning/credits)

Project Summary

The BLEEP project is about digital inclusion in the broadest sense. We will create and implement an innovative, creative, Europe-focused blended learning platform for all (ex-)prisoners, in which an individual has the ownership of the learning process that can be monitored to stimulate progress in developing skills. This will be done through the cooperation between nine organizations, Click F1 as project leader with the support of CHAINS and Stichting Exodus Zuid-Holland from the Netherlands, Kocaeli Open Correctional Institution from Turkey, STEPS from Italy, Innovative Prison Systems and Direcau-Gneral de Reinsercao e Services Prisionais from Portugal, Penitenciarul Bucharest Jilava from Romania and European Prison Education Association, a European network.

According to the ‘desistance’ theory, every individual forms a social bond with society. This social bond consists of the extent to which a person feels involved in social goals, makes an effort to achieve these goals, believes in the value of these goals and is able to use legal means to achieve these goals. The weaker this social bond is, the greater the chance that people will tend to lead a criminal lifestyle. Many people who come out of prison have difficulty integrating well into society after their sentence. On average more than 60% come into contact with the law again within 2 years. The most important factor for the failure of integration appears to be the lack of meaningful daily activities. This is preferably paid work, but it can also be another day activity, as long as people can use their skills in daily life. Yet, education for prisoners is still an issue in many countries, how to deal with it, even defining what education actually means. For many teachers in prison the reality is that it is mainly focusing on formal education in the formal framework.

In the field of blended learning and digital skills a lot of initiatives and developments have been occurring in recent years. There is already plenty of information and lots of games and tools for both formal as well as informal education. The art is to look at this from a meta point of view. How can we integrate all the energy from education and reintegration efforts into one learning process for prisoners from the inside to the outside? And how should staff training relate to this? During this project we will have eight pilots, inside prison and outside prison in half-way houses with around 80 (ex-) prisoners.

Prisoners do get the opportunity to follow creative workshops now and then, but this is mainly provided with the aim to kill time, rather than to practice life skills. It is rarely seen in most European prisons that informal learning is provided to prisoners within a formal framework. Ideally, the separation between education and reintegration would not be necessary. Because, as a person develops him/herself and learns more, (s)he will become better prepared for society. With BLEEP, we will integrate the educational and reintegration learning process for adult prisoners via blended learning environment. The BLEEP activities based on blended learning approach will have positive impacts on the development of skills and reintegration for prisoners.

BLEEP as a European community:
Working in a European context provides us with enough knowledge and perspectives to design a tailor-made blended learning environment that can be used by all European prisoners. Needs of people are universal, we all need a home, we need love, fulfillment in the job we do, we need friends, develop skills, etc. And even though this seems quite straightforward, it is actually not that easy to accomplish. A person needs many skills in order to obtain all this. How do all the training courses and the platform connect to an increasingly wider community? How does the portfolio become a recognized tool of the community and does it receive recognition within the network of the EPEA, and what is that recognition, what is the status of this? How does it become a platform that connects different education and reintegration initiatives within the network of the EPEA. These are the questions that will be answered during this project. We will use an innovative way of creating in BLEEP by Learning Experience Design. Human beings respond to experiences and learn from them. With BLEEP we create an environment in which prisoners can work with their experiences, their personal development. We will focus on the experience and create a platform that enhances this so that they can reintegrate successfully.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 449297 Eur

Project Coordinator

Click F1 & Country: NL

Project Partners

• STEPS SRL
• European Prison Education Association
• DIRECAO-GERAL DE REINSERCAO E SERVICOS PRISIONAIS
• CHAINS
• PENITENCIARUL BUCURESTI JILAVA
• Stichting Exodus Zuid-Holland
• Kocaeli Open Correctional Institution