Required Courses
The next intake is for Fall 2025. The program will run from Fall 2025 to Winter 2027. Courses have both synchronous and asynchronous components, including online (Zoom) class sessions. Any synchronous sessions are in Mountain Time (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and attendance is required. Dates and times are determined by the course instructor.
These are graduate-level, credit courses, requiring between five and ten hours of coursework per week in the fall and winter terms (13 weeks). Courses offered in the spring and summer terms are condensed (six and three weeks respectively), so the amount of time spent on coursework is increased. This includes time spent on readings, assignments, presentations (group and individual), and writing papers.
Note: Any synchronous sessions will be in Mountain Time (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). Dates and times are determined by the course instructor.
Fall Term I
EDU 595 Philosophies of Education in Criminal Justice ★3
Approaches to education often do not meld seamlessly with approaches to criminal justice. In this course, students will trace the historical and contemporary approaches to learning, change, and rehabilitation in prison. They will explore a variety of philosophical approaches to both education and criminal justice, and critically analyze how different approaches might impact their teaching practice.
Winter Term I
EDU 595 Teaching Adults and Youth in Carceral Environments ★3
Drawing on current education theories and practices, this course delves into particular teaching strategies that can be employed in correctional environments. Students will explore issues such as incorporating technology, adapting to multi-level classrooms, responding to trauma, creating educational environments, following institutional procedures and requirements, and working with justice professionals. A number of teaching modalities will be discussed, including face to face, self-directed study, student-led study groups, and the emergence of e-learning.
Fall Term II
EDU 595 Course and Program Design and Evaluation in Carceral Environments ★3
This course explores the theoretical and practical considerations in program planning and course design in correctional contexts. Topics will include needs assessments, asset mapping, proposal writing, budgeting, instructional design, and program evaluation and reporting.
Winter Term II
EDU 595 Understanding Carceral Environments and Re-entry ★3
Education and learning do not occur in a silo, fully separated from the other aspects of peoples’ lives. One reality of prison is that “the outside” continues while someone is incarcerated. This course will incorporate research from a variety of fields – criminology, sociology, psychology, and more – to enable students to understand the larger correctional environment and life situations in which their teaching occurs.