Branches
EPEA
What do we mean by a branch?
EPEA Ireland
We promote the view that education in prison is a moral right that meets a basic human need, and within this perspective, personal development is considered to be an aim, a process and a result of prison education. We believe that education in prison has the power to transform prisoners lives by enabling them understand, critique and question their previously unquestioned perceptions, assumptions and worldview. Prison education can facilitate the prisoners successful re-entry into society by cultivating the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation necessary for active citizenship.
The aims of the association are:
Chairperson: Jane Carrigan
Secretary: Edel Cunningham (Edel Scanlan)
Treasurer: Peter Doyle
Liaison Person: Eleanor Jones
Liaison Person: Michelle Ryan
Lifelong Member: Kevin Warner
EPEA Webmaster: Deirdre Brennan
Email: ipea.events@gmail.com
This website makes available writing by Kevin Warner. Kevin Warner was National Co-ordinator of Prison Education, in the Department of Justice/Irish Prison Service, 1979 – 2009. (Retired December 2009). This involved developing, in conjunction with education bodies from the community, prison education services (which had only a marginal role in prisons in 1979) so that they became by far the most substantial structured activity in which Irish prisoners participated.
Much of the material pertains to Ireland, but some is written with a European or American context in mind. A few of the items included here have been written jointly with others.
The site also contains related material written by others, as well as links to like-minded websites.
EPEA Klasbak
Klasbak was founded in 2012 as an informal network of organizations and people involved in education in prisons. In November 2015, Klasbak was recognized as the Flemish branch of the European Prison Education Association (EPEA).
In 2021, Klasbak took up the challenge to draw up a new policy plan. A plan in which they indicate how they want to work together on learning in prison in the coming years. Klasbak is primarily a network organization. It is therefore logical that this entire policy plan has its roots in their network. Since the spring of 2020, they have brought teachers, trainers, educational organizations, correctional officers, prison administrators, scientists, policymakers and government services together to build up their “impact chain”.
Klasbak is a network that works on a society in which:
Chairperson: Liesbeth De Donder Liesbeth.De.Donder@vub.be
Secretary: Inge Van Acker inge.van.acker@vocvo.be
Liaison Persons: Marleen Strubbe marleen.strubbe@vocvo.be and Lut Lippeveld Lut.lippeveld@deoranjerie.be
Coordinator: Bieke Deloof, bieke@klasbak.net
APEnP Portugal
Address:
Departamento de Educação e Psicologia
Edifício do Pólo I da Escola de Ciências Humanas e Sociais
Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro
Quinta de Prados
P – 5001-801 Vila Real
Email: geral@apenp.pt
EPEA Hellas
EPEA
Aims:
2. Education in Prison is defined as education provided for all persons who are under the supervision of the judiciary, whether sentenced or awaiting trial, and whether serving a sentence in prison or in the community.
3. Persons involved are defined as all those working in the field of Education in Prison and in related disciplines.
Papadimitriou Ioannis, Anastasia Peppa
Chairperson: Papadimitriou Ioannis
Secretary: Anastasia Peppa
Treasurer: Sofia Samara
Member: Georgios Trandas
Member: Marilena Petrogianni
SWIPEA Switzerland
EPEA
After the Swiss Institute for Education in Prison (SIEP) had already been active in Swiss prisons for more than 10 years, SWIPEA was founded in spring 2019 in order to be able to become increasingly involved at European level.
SWIPEA comprises all the staff of SIEP, which is a department of the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Prison and Probation (SCEPP) in Fribourg. SWIPEA’s activities to the present day therefore correspond to those of SIEP.
SIEP provides primary and secondary school education in 29 prisons throughout Switzerland. In about 140 learning groups, 43 teachers currently teach more than 1700 participants each year.
Annual Report of SWIPEA – Swiss Prison Education Association – 2019:
The Swiss Prison Education Association (SWIPEA) was founded at the end of January 2019 and recognized by the Steering Committee as an official branch of EPEA in March.
SWIPEA comprises all employees of the Swiss Institute for Education in Prison (SIEP) and is established as a legal entity for a dependent department within the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Prison and Probation (SCEPP). This means that the activities of SWIPEA correspond until now to those of the SIEP.
SIEP provides primary and secondary school education in 29 prisons throughout Switzerland. In about 140 learning groups, 43 teachers currently teach more than 1700 participants each year.
Particular attention is paid to the continuous education of teachers. Each year, 7 events are organised to deal with prison topics or pedagogical issues. Teachers are also given the opportunity to carry out an intervision in small groups – in the absence of their superiors.
Topics of this year were e.g. brain fair learning and solution focused competence in teaching. It took a long time to prepare the integration of SIEP into SCEPP by January 1st, 2020.
At the international level, Erasmus+ funded job shadowing was carried out with fellow teachers in Spain. 6 teachers from Switzerland attended classes in prisons in Granada and Almería, 7 teachers from Spain attended classes in 4 prisons in both German and French-speaking Switzerland.
Planning for identical job shadowing in Spain next year and job shadowing with colleagues from Austria has already begun.
In June, at the EPEA conference in Dublin, we presented our self-developed teaching aid German in Prison (or French respectively). The foreign participants learn the basic vocabulary and the key rules of conduct so that they can cope with everyday life in prison as autonomously as possible. As a result of the presentation in Dublin, the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia became interested in taking over the teaching material for the prison institutions there. It looks as if an adapted licensed version of the teaching material can be produced next year.
Finally, an exchange was agreed for next year with the Institute for Education in the Information Society (IBI) at the University of Berlin. The IBI was in charge of a project at the JVA Heidering in Berlin. The aim was to create a learning and communication platform within the prison facility to which the inmates could access via WLAN using specially configured tablets. The project is a complete success, such a platform with supervised access to the Internet and e-mail traffic is possible.
A similar objective, but at a simpler level, is the pilot project that SIEP intends to launch next year: to test the use of tablets with pre-installed learning software in class.
EPEA Netherlands
EPEA
For years, in Holland, the EPEA had been a group of enthusiastic, but individual members. Only few of them were (very) active members in the European point of view. We also just didn’t manage to find time to form a branch. But the members were of course individuals with an extended interest in their work, with a curiosity to learn and hear more about how matters are dealt with in other European countries.
For years, in the Netherlands, EPEA-NL had been a group of enthusiastic, but individual members. Only few of them were (very) active members from a European point of view. But the members were of course individuals with an enormous interest in their work, with a curiosity to learn and hear more about how matters are dealt with in other European countries. Now, a couple of years later, EPEA-NL is growing and more people are getting involved in prison education. Together with a couple of other organizations working with prisoners we have formed a consortium which enables us to work and learn together from a broader perspective.
Chairperson: Peter van Olmen, PvanOlmen@intermetzo.nl
Secretary: Floor Kloosterman, secretaris@epea-nl.nl
Treasurer & website: Jan Paul van Gemeren, janpaulvg@gmail.com
Member: Ed Santman, edsantman@gmail.com
Member: Annet Bakker
EPEA Norway FOKO
History:
1982 -1984: 3 people get together and make the first attempt to form a national organisation. Lack of funding and interest – the organisation dies.
1990: The Council of Europe publishes recommendations for Prison Education. This document is translated into Norwegian and sent to all prison schools and prisons.
1992: Norwegian Ministry of Education recommends improving Prison Education
1993: EPEA is formally established
1995: Another attempt is made to establish a national Norwegian organisation: 6 people get together. A new FOKO is established with 50-60 members (out of some 240 fulltime / part-time teachers in Norway).
2003: Norway arranged the 9th EPEA Conference
Chair: Janne Offerdal
Secretary: Paal Breivik
Treasurer: Wenche Stenersen
Lise Olafsen
Roy Høgberget
Pål Endresplass
Leif Einar Øverland
EPEA
What do we mean by a branch?
We promote the view that education in prison is a moral right that meets a basic human need, and within this perspective, personal development is considered to be an aim, a process and a result of prison education. We believe that education in prison has the power to transform prisoners lives by enabling them understand, critique and question their previously unquestioned perceptions, assumptions and worldview. Prison education can facilitate the prisoners successful re-entry into society by cultivating the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation necessary for active citizenship.
The aims of the association are:
Chairperson: Jane Carrigan
Secretary: Edel Cunningham (Edel Scanlan)
Treasurer: Peter Doyle
Liaison Person: Eleanor Jones
Liaison Person: Michelle Ryan
Lifelong Member: Kevin Warner
EPEA Webmaster: Deirdre Brennan
Email: ipea.events@gmail.com
This website makes available writing by Kevin Warner. Kevin Warner was National Co-ordinator of Prison Education, in the Department of Justice/Irish Prison Service, 1979 – 2009. (Retired December 2009). This involved developing, in conjunction with education bodies from the community, prison education services (which had only a marginal role in prisons in 1979) so that they became by far the most substantial structured activity in which Irish prisoners participated.
Much of the material pertains to Ireland, but some is written with a European or American context in mind. A few of the items included here have been written jointly with others.
The site also contains related material written by others, as well as links to like-minded websites.
Klasbak was founded in 2012 as an informal network of organizations and people involved in education in prisons. In November 2015, Klasbak was recognized as the Flemish branch of the European Prison Education Association (EPEA).
In 2021, Klasbak took up the challenge to draw up a new policy plan. A plan in which they indicate how they want to work together on learning in prison in the coming years. Klasbak is primarily a network organization. It is therefore logical that this entire policy plan has its roots in their network. Since the spring of 2020, they have brought teachers, trainers, educational organizations, correctional officers, prison administrators, scientists, policymakers and government services together to build up their “impact chain”.
Klasbak is a network that works on a society in which:
Chairperson: Liesbeth De Donder Liesbeth.De.Donder@vub.be
Secretary: Inge Van Acker inge.van.acker@vocvo.be
Liaison Persons: Marleen Strubbe marleen.strubbe@vocvo.be and Lut Lippeveld Lut.lippeveld@deoranjerie.be
Coordinator: Bieke Deloof, bieke@klasbak.net
Address:
Departamento de Educação e Psicologia
Edifício do Pólo I da Escola de Ciências Humanas e Sociais
Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro
Quinta de Prados
P – 5001-801 Vila Real
Email: geral@apenp.pt
EPEA
Aims:
2. Education in Prison is defined as education provided for all persons who are under the supervision of the judiciary, whether sentenced or awaiting trial, and whether serving a sentence in prison or in the community.
3. Persons involved are defined as all those working in the field of Education in Prison and in related disciplines.
Papadimitriou Ioannis, Anastasia Peppa
Chairperson: Papadimitriou Ioannis
Secretary: Anastasia Peppa
Treasurer: Sofia Samara
Member: Georgios Trandas
Member: Marilena Petrogianni
EPEA
After the Swiss Institute for Education in Prison (SIEP) had already been active in Swiss prisons for more than 10 years, SWIPEA was founded in spring 2019 in order to be able to become increasingly involved at European level.
SWIPEA comprises all the staff of SIEP, which is a department of the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Prison and Probation (SCEPP) in Fribourg. SWIPEA’s activities to the present day therefore correspond to those of SIEP.
SIEP provides primary and secondary school education in 29 prisons throughout Switzerland. In about 140 learning groups, 43 teachers currently teach more than 1700 participants each year.
Annual Report of SWIPEA – Swiss Prison Education Association – 2019:
The Swiss Prison Education Association (SWIPEA) was founded at the end of January 2019 and recognized by the Steering Committee as an official branch of EPEA in March.
SWIPEA comprises all employees of the Swiss Institute for Education in Prison (SIEP) and is established as a legal entity for a dependent department within the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Prison and Probation (SCEPP). This means that the activities of SWIPEA correspond until now to those of the SIEP.
SIEP provides primary and secondary school education in 29 prisons throughout Switzerland. In about 140 learning groups, 43 teachers currently teach more than 1700 participants each year.
Particular attention is paid to the continuous education of teachers. Each year, 7 events are organised to deal with prison topics or pedagogical issues. Teachers are also given the opportunity to carry out an intervision in small groups – in the absence of their superiors.
Topics of this year were e.g. brain fair learning and solution focused competence in teaching. It took a long time to prepare the integration of SIEP into SCEPP by January 1st, 2020.
At the international level, Erasmus+ funded job shadowing was carried out with fellow teachers in Spain. 6 teachers from Switzerland attended classes in prisons in Granada and Almería, 7 teachers from Spain attended classes in 4 prisons in both German and French-speaking Switzerland.
Planning for identical job shadowing in Spain next year and job shadowing with colleagues from Austria has already begun.
In June, at the EPEA conference in Dublin, we presented our self-developed teaching aid German in Prison (or French respectively). The foreign participants learn the basic vocabulary and the key rules of conduct so that they can cope with everyday life in prison as autonomously as possible. As a result of the presentation in Dublin, the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia became interested in taking over the teaching material for the prison institutions there. It looks as if an adapted licensed version of the teaching material can be produced next year.
Finally, an exchange was agreed for next year with the Institute for Education in the Information Society (IBI) at the University of Berlin. The IBI was in charge of a project at the JVA Heidering in Berlin. The aim was to create a learning and communication platform within the prison facility to which the inmates could access via WLAN using specially configured tablets. The project is a complete success, such a platform with supervised access to the Internet and e-mail traffic is possible.
A similar objective, but at a simpler level, is the pilot project that SIEP intends to launch next year: to test the use of tablets with pre-installed learning software in class.
EPEA
For years, in Holland, the EPEA had been a group of enthusiastic, but individual members. Only few of them were (very) active members in the European point of view. We also just didn’t manage to find time to form a branch. But the members were of course individuals with an extended interest in their work, with a curiosity to learn and hear more about how matters are dealt with in other European countries.
For years, in the Netherlands, EPEA-NL had been a group of enthusiastic, but individual members. Only few of them were (very) active members from a European point of view. But the members were of course individuals with an enormous interest in their work, with a curiosity to learn and hear more about how matters are dealt with in other European countries. Now, a couple of years later, EPEA-NL is growing and more people are getting involved in prison education. Together with a couple of other organizations working with prisoners we have formed a consortium which enables us to work and learn together from a broader perspective.
Chairperson: Peter van Olmen, PvanOlmen@intermetzo.nl
Secretary: Floor Kloosterman, secretaris@epea-nl.nl
Treasurer & website: Jan Paul van Gemeren, janpaulvg@gmail.com
Member: Ed Santman, edsantman@gmail.com
Member: Annet Bakker
History:
1982 -1984: 3 people get together and make the first attempt to form a national organisation. Lack of funding and interest – the organisation dies.
1990: The Council of Europe publishes recommendations for Prison Education. This document is translated into Norwegian and sent to all prison schools and prisons.
1992: Norwegian Ministry of Education recommends improving Prison Education
1993: EPEA is formally established
1995: Another attempt is made to establish a national Norwegian organisation: 6 people get together. A new FOKO is established with 50-60 members (out of some 240 fulltime / part-time teachers in Norway).
2003: Norway arranged the 9th EPEA Conference
Chair: Janne Offerdal
Secretary: Paal Breivik
Treasurer: Wenche Stenersen
Lise Olafsen
Roy Høgberget
Pål Endresplass
Leif Einar Øverland
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