Offenders’ experiences of instructional methods used in the Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa

This study investigated the instructional methods used in the correctional school and during rehabilitation programmes at the Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. It further explored how those instructional methods influence offenders' learning experiences. Anchored in the positivism paradigm, a quantitative approach was followed, and a cross-sectional survey design was used. The enumeration sampling technique was used due to the small size of the population (n = 571). Data were collected from 402 participants who were sentenced offenders, yielding a response rate of 70.40%. A Kolb Learning Style Inventory was used to collect data. Version 26.0.0 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed as part of data analysis. The results show that during classes and during rehabilitation programmes, classroom discussion was the most common instructional method, and this was found to be appropriate to the participants’ learning experiences. Lecturing was the second most used instructional method for both the Correctional Centre school and the rehabilitation programmes. It was also found to be relevant to the participants’ learning experiences. It is recommended that the Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre formulate and implement a strategy that seeks to deliberately provide variations of instructional methods to accommodate different learning styles if these do not compromise the security within the facility. Teachers/facilitators can use varied techniques to stimulate offenders’ enthusiasm and participation during the sessions. It is further recommended that the Department of Correctional Services should offer professional development opportunities for educators to develop capacity to utilise diverse teaching techniques and create feedback mechanisms to assess instructional effectiveness for offenders. The Department of Correctional Service must further consider developing a framework for monitoring instructional effectiveness or guidelines for integrating new teaching techniques.