From the school of hard knocks to the university of hard locks

This lyrical and compelling account of a personal transformation by Abdulhaq Al-Wazeer makes connections between his scholarship and his faith. Finding strength and resolve in learning with The Open University propelled Abdulhaq into a commitment to learning Arabic, memorising the Qur’an and the complete transformation of his self-belief and self-understanding. Politics, Philosophy and Economics is the name of his degree, but his rediscovery of his own life in learning is guided by a profound appreciation of the many people who helped him.

Vignette 6 Message to a prisoner

Oh, there you are. I was wondering when you would turn to this page. The fact that you have read this far would suggest that you are, at the very least, interested in doing something constructive with your time while in prison. To be honest, and how many of us have been in the past, this is the sole reason that I looked at the possibilities of studying with The Open University (OU) back in 2014. I left school with a few qualifications, worked in various jobs, then everything went wrong and I found myself looking at a lengthy prison sentence. But enough of that!...

From Open University in prison to convict criminology upon release: mind the gap

A long prison sentence leads Michael Irwin to a revelation that his experiences of studying criminology with The Open University and discovering classic prison research studies might offer him a new path. Convict criminology combines personal experience of imprisonment with conventional ‘book learning’ about prison. Irwin tells of his struggle to combine the two and contribute to the emerging work of British Convict Criminology.

From prisoner to student

This chapter traces the development of The Open University’s teaching and learning in prisons and with prisoners. Key milestones are identified and contemporary developments and dilemmas are discussed. The chapter closes by examining the potentials of digital technologies to transform OU prison learning.

Openings and introductions: education for the many, prison for the few

Setting the pioneering work of The Open University in context, the chapter explains how and why it’s work in prison is so consistent with its guiding principles. It recalls the passionate egalitarian beliefs that propelled The OU from the start, that continue to sustain it and that flow through the chapters. Each chapter is briefly introduced and the gift of the (prisoner) artist who provided the front cover image is celebrated.

What the OU did for me

Anyone familiar with prisons in the UK will have heard of Erwin James. No one writes about imprisonment as he does. Now an accomplished author and journalist, he provides an account of the role education in his life; first its premature closure through neglectful teachers and abusive family circumstances, then a surprise reopening and rediscovery of latent talent in a prison setting. The Open University, books, wide reading, some supportive teachers and a long prison sentence provide Erwin with hope for another life, a life outside. This moving and beautifully written chapter is proof of its realisation.

Vignette 7 Catching up with Kafka

Prison is like a microcosm of technocratic totalitarianism where every action collapses under the weight of its own bureaucracy. This often requires a member of senior management to override the rules in order to get things done! If you don’t have a powerful backer, it’s not happening. Most actions, from asking for toilet paper to doing a prison magazine, become a Kafkaesque nightmare rivalling Franz Kafka’s novels such as ...

Becoming me with The Open University

Edwin Schreeche-Powell’s low opinion of The Open University is transformed when he realises he has given too much weight and value to ill-informed opinion and not enough to real experience. Abandoning this prejudice is the beginning of a learning journey in prison that takes him from undergraduate studies to a PhD. Connecting his learning about sociological research in prison to his own experiences of imprisonment provide Edwin with the possibilities of an academic evolution and a sense of belonging.

Straight up! From HMP to PhD

Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski describes his journey from growing up in poverty on a council estate in London, dropping out of school to deal drugs and ending up in prison. In prison The Open University module ‘An Introduction to Social Science’ marks the beginning of another journey, out of prison and into Higher Education. It culminates in his enrolment for a PhD with The Open University and employment offering support and encouragement to prison learners. An unfinished lifelong journey that pays tribute to his determination and persistence.

Vignette 4 Out of the abysmal

Only a prisoner (and possibly a prison officer) can truly understand the sheer tedium of prison life. Without considerable effort, the fact is every day is Groundhog Day – depressingly identical to the last and the next. The majority of each day is spent in what is, to all intents and purposes, a large toilet – which is often without a lid so life is lived, and meals consumed, next to an open sewer. Being trans I’m lucky in that I never have to share my cell/toilet with another prisoner but even so the uniformity of the environment is bleak, with any attempt to personalise your living space frowned upon and treated as a disciplinary offence....