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How Do You Make It Work?
By Trudy Schrandt (profile)
The room was a bit on the dark side upon entering. Around a conference table, men were gathered and engaged in a somewhat spirited discussion. After adjusting to the lighting, certain people began to stand out. The instructor preferred to nudge the discussion with questions when there was a lull, but this did not come that often. A stately gentleman with a three-piece suit and white hair couldn't resist the urge to punctuate a discussion or point out an idea overlooked; he was, no doubt, the judge. After that, it was most difficult to determine who had what role. There were approximately 12 to 15 people engaged in intense discussion of a book that they had read.
I will not lie; I had been prepared for a ho-hum evening. I had been asked to consider becoming involved in establishing a similar classroom for the district court in my area. Like any teacher, I have had my share of "good" and "bad" classes. Nothing prepared me for what I found that night. With the exception of one participant (who I later discovered had read the wrong book), every single person wanted and needed to insert an opinion. The discourse was charged with electricity, enthusiasm, and camaraderie. Astute observations supported with personal experiences and insights filled the room with a hunger to share, to verbalize, and to validate. Everyone had read the (rather large) book and had formed an intense rapport with it. Eventually, I was able to identify the participants versus the probation officers (POs), more by their level of involvement than anything else. More than to commandeer the discussion, the POs interjected their thoughts to reinforce an insight by one of the student-probationers.
I left that night knowing that I wanted to be a part of what was going on in that classroom. I was energized, I was excited, and I was envious of the instructor who could get that type of participation out of a group. It was not until later that I learned this was the prototype of a Changing Lives Through Literature classroom, and things were not necessarily going to be that smooth, that energetic, or that inspiring.
It took over a year before the first class was held in our district. Over that time and since, it has become quite clear that there are many factors that have to come together before, during, and after each session to make a program successful.
I'd like to believe that now I have been through it, I could make it happen quicker and better. This is not so. For those of us who are used to walking into a classroom where the students have registered to take the course, we are used to having a captive audience with rules that are set down by the school and by ourselves. We can move from one educational setting across the country to another, and it will be pretty much the same set of rules with similar protocols. I spent the first year of CLTL wondering what I was doing. I went to conferences held by the CLTL staff and listened so intently that I would have a headache upon returning home. There were too many loose ends, and I, who consider myself somewhat intelligent, was not getting them to tie together. My experiences were not those of others. I could never have used some of the literature others were using; it just would not have worked. Transportation, book availability, classroom rules, court rules, etc. were all in such flux that all of a sudden I realized that there were no rules, just a concept to be duplicated as allowed by each circumstance. Each court/district had to "create" its own bylaws based on its own set of probationers, logistics, and support.
When I was asked to pen my thoughts regarding the problems encountered in a CLTL classroom, it seemed somewhat overwhelming until I realized that by putting out the questions that each group has to answer, the problems become quite clear. No two locations will have the same problems, but the answers will help define the location and how it operates. So, it is probably best to start at the top and just go down until the questions stop.
The Courts: Each court ultimately decides what considerations it is willing to work with and how participants will be assigned.
Does the judge actively facilitate and participate in the program? Does the judge understand and support the program?Has the judge set parameters for sentencing an offender to the program? Is the judge supporting the program of a presiding judge? Does the judge give the program a passing nod? Does the judge care? Does the judge actively sentence participants to the program? Is participation presentencing, postsentencing, or either? Is there a working relationship between the judge, the POs, and the instructor? Is there reciprocity between courts when students from one court take the program in another court? Does the judge have guidelines for sentence consideration?
The degree to which the judge involved chooses to direct the program will determine just how strong or how "easy" it becomes to create and keep the program working in your setting. When the judge is an "absentee" persona, not that involved, or not the presiding judge, then the jobs of the PO and instructor intensify. The more finely tuned the judicial perspective is, the easier it is to know what you can do and how it will work.
The Probation Office: The greatest one-on-one involvement occurs between the POs and the student offenders. POs become the bridge between the courtroom and the classroom.
Does the Probation Office truly understand the program and how it works? Are the Probation Office and its POs behind the program? Have the POs seen a program in action so that they understand what occurs in the classroom? Will they screen and appropriately assign probationers from their caseloads? Will they recommend that probationers be sentenced to the program? Do they see this as an intervention prior to sentencing? Will POs participate in the actual program? Will someone take on the administrative responsibilities involved in CLTL in addition to his/her caseload? Are there personality conflicts among the POs that would hinder getting probationer assignments? Are there personality issues with a PO that might make his/her participation inappropriate?
The Students: It is obvious than many offenders will not benefit, nor are they appropriate for this program. While it may seem obvious who should and should not be considered, there are several considerations to be made.
What is the level of literacy of the student? What is the education level? How do students perceive themselves with relation to others? What are the arguments and demographic concerns used in determining if classes will be all male, all female, and/or coed? Do students have personality issues that would harm the classroom interaction? Is their demeanor such that they could seem threatening to the other students and/or the instructor? Are they truly interested or just using CLTL to gain a sentencing consideration? What is their ability to get to class (transportation issues)? Do they have any pending legal issues that could cut their program short? Do they have any medical (methadone use, etc) issues that may impact their classroom participation?
The Instructor/Facilitator: Without the right direction, everyone gets lost. It takes an excited and dedicated person to facilitate this program. More importantly, it takes someone who can respond to the most unexpected situation and still make it happen.
What reading selections will be chosen? Will the readings have meaning to your population? Will the readings be readily available to your students? How will students get the readings? Will readings be provided by the instructor, will students be expected to obtain them, or will it be a little of both? If the literacy level is lower, what methods will be used to teach (in-class reading, smaller assignments, in-class explication of the content prior to discussion, etc)? If the literacy level is higher, how will students be challenged and just how in-depth can discussions be? When the literacy level is mixed, how can everyone be brought to a common ground so that everyone is a true participant? What is the average class size going to be, or will it vary? If the class size is large, how will this issue be addressed? How can the "quiet" students be drawn out, and just how far can they be pushed to participate? How will the instructor handle it when one student "takes over" the class? Should the instructor have the same expectations for everyone? Will writing assignments be used? How can an ambiance be created in which the instructor, PO, and judge become part of the "we" in the classroom? How does the instructor handle it when a judge or PO "takes over" the class from the instructor and students?
There are a lot of questions to be answered here, but they are the clues to what you will encounter as you begin or keep your individual program running. While they don't address all of the problems that can and will occur in a CLTL classroom, they do give insight into where the problems occur. The only template here is that there is a wonderful prototype for what should occur in the classroom, with the expectation that the gains will be great.
The pathway to arriving there is as unique as your program's site and its participants. No two sessions ever go the same way, and no two courts will have a program that duplicates another. No way is right, and no way is wrong. There will be problems; there will be victories. Expect anything and have the CLTL phone number on speed dial for those problems that are truly personal and unique. It is worth every growl, every period of frustration, and every "no" you happen upon. Whatever problems there have been, they pale in comparison to what happens in that classroom.
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