Key points:
Education is a cornerstone of personal growth and economic success, but for students of minor detention facilities, it serves a deeper objective, equipping students with the skills they will need to make positive choices and achieve their objectives.
A large part of the implementation of students to succeed is to connect them to vocational training and experiences that allow them to explore their skills and interests. This allows them to imagine successful career paths to which they can work before and after their release.
In Connecticut, Bridgeport public schools and the Department of Connecticut Children and Families/ The justice education unit for minors works together to support the continuous learning of students at the residential center for bridgeport minors, by preparing students to succeed by connecting them to work experiences and by helping them to develop transferable skills thanks to vocational training.
The initiative uses Transfr VR Goggles to help students access vocational training modules, which make learning based on the project of students more tangible and relevant – and can help meet the needs of an evolving labor market.
Bringing this learning to students offers a unique and individualized experience that allows students of skills and fundamental knowledge of different professional careers.
One of the main objectives of the program is to connect students to a professional exhibition and a lower recurrence, to align students by emphasizing their future and the opportunities to succeed, said John Tarka, assistant superintendent in the Department of Children and Families / Families for Minors.
Transfr glasses “have really presented a very engaging learning opportunity,” he said. “Glasses offer students a way to obtain a very unique exhibition for these professional and work opportunities that they would not have in a regular framework.”
Students use glasses during their learning lessons based on projects, where they can earn professional credits and can choose from more than 40 career exploration programs.
“We are delighted to have virtual reality glasses so that our students can discover what they would not have in a community high school,” said Ca'tisha Howard, administrator of Bridgeport public schools in the Bridgeport Residential Center program.
After working in program logistics, Tarka and Howard found their priorities for students aligned in a shared vision around the professional program: a program that helps students ultimately identify career paths and continue these paths after their release.
The exhibition to professional programs guarantees that students learn more than English, mathematics, science and social studies – they will be able to explore what they might want to do after their return to their community schools.
“They can explore if they want to be automotive mechanics,” said Howard. “If they want to help a surgery doctor, they are able to participate in this experiences. We had a student who wanted to be a veterinary technician; He removed a tick from a dog's ear. Some children were interested in construction and (glasses gave them navigated experiences) scaffolding, cranes and steel beams. ”
While students try different training modules, they can identify where they could like to pursue careers.
“Our ultimate goal is that students choose a career path and follow it while they are in high school,” said Howard. “Research has shown that students who use glasses and have this type of training tend to perform better, in some cases, that students who were really physically present in the professional class with the equipment.”
Students who train with virtual reality often feel more connected to content, display increased confidence and learn more quickly, according to Recent research.
“While they are in detention, part of their lives and their freedom is suspended,” said Tarka. “They leave the detention center with a certificate that they can use to get a job.”
In the future, Howard and Tarka are considering creative partnerships with companies and community organizations to help students find a job once they are published, creating stronger supports to ensure student success.
“The more important objective is to have a certain number of different resources, so that if a student is released tomorrow, we can say:” OK, here are the areas where you have performed very well with the glasses – call our contacts and see to find a job “,” said Howard.
During a next day of career, the students of the center, aged 12 to 18 and who all have the possibility of using transfing glasses, will meet community partners and will start to develop a plan for what their lives could look like after the exit.
“Students will have the opportunity to speak to these people; They can present themselves in a certain way and get a job, so the community does not look at it as if it was prison. These children are in detention. But look at all the opportunities they have, ”said Howard.
In addition to Howard's encouragement, teacher support leads students to examine their actions, what choices have taken them to the detention center and how they can make better choices when they are released.
“This is a really educational reform work in the sense that we do not only give new opportunities to students, but we also change the story of what people think that children in prison are,” said Tarka. “Everyone says people deserve a second chance, but they don't really know what they look like and they might not want to kiss him more than just conversation.”
“Our unit really strives to reintegrate students into their schools at home and their home communities – we really seek to support them in their return to the community,” said Tarka.
