CREATIVE FATHERHOOD BEHIND BARS: THE READ TO YOUR CHILD PROGRAM: CREATIVE FATHERHOOD BEHIND BARS: THE READ TO YOUR CHILD PROGRAM

Tabitha Stickel; Anna Kaiper-Marquez; Esther Prins

doi:10.22478/ufpb.2359-7003.2020v29n2.53969

Authors

Tabitha Stickel Penn State University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2575-8120
Anna Kaiper-Marquez Pennsylvania State University, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3929-7430
Esther Prins Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Program at Penn State https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9630-6105

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22478/ufpb.2359-7003.2020v29n2.53969

Keywords:

Correctional education., Family literacy., Incarcerated fathers., Incarcerated parents.

Abstract

More than one-half of incarcerated people in the USA are parents of minor children. Family literacy and read-aloud programs not only provide these parents with ways to connect and communicate with their children, but also encourage children’s learning and literacy development through creative means. Research on such programs, however, is scarce. This article presents an analysis of one such family literacy program operating in a rural Pennsylvania prison. Using qualitative data, the authors describe the Read to Your Child/Grandchild (RYCG) program and the experiences of the 11 fathers who participated in the program in fall 2018. The article examines how the program bridges gaps between fathers and children in communication, physical presence, and literacy development; the unique benefits the program’s components afford its participants; and the fathers’ acts of creativity and creation while in a restricted carceral setting.

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Author Biographies

Tabitha Stickel, Penn State University

PhD Candidate in Pennsylvania State University’s Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Program. Her dissertation research focuses on adult basic education (ABE) students with diverse linguistic backgrounds, their educational experiences both past and present, and the socioemotional dynamics in adult education classrooms influencing how students experience such spaces. Tabitha graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with her M.Ed. from the Adult Learning and Leadership program. She continues to work with a former professor as an associate lecturer at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies.

Anna Kaiper-Marquez, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Dr. Anna Kaiper is the Associate Director and Assistant Teaching Professor of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy and the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy in the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University. She completed her dissertation in Comparative and International Development Education at the University of Minnesota that, over a three-year span, centered on the adult English language learning and literacy of domestic workers in South Africa. From this research, she has published several journals articles, book chapters, and book reviews on adult basic education (ABE), English language learning, and qualitative methodologies in national and international contexts. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Anna was a GED and ESL instructor for adults at Northern New Mexico Community College in Espanola, New Mexico. Within this role, she oversaw the distance learning program for ABE students and concurrently acted as a naturalization tutor for her ESL students. Additionally, Anna has taught English as a Foreign Language and Business English to K-12.

Esther Prins, Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Program at Penn State

Esther Prins is a Professor in the Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Program at Penn State, where she also serves as the Co-Director of the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy. Her research interests include critical and participatory approaches to adult education (particularly adult and family literacy), community development, and research, both in the USA and internationally.

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CREATIVE FATHERHOOD BEHIND BARS: THE READ TO YOUR CHILD PROGRAM