Critical Andragogy and ‘Momentary Emancipation’ in a Prison-University Educational Partnership

This article examines the application of a critical andragogical approach to the teaching of a Learning Together prison-university partnership course. The partnership was based in the North-West of England and involved final year (Level 6) Criminology students from The University of the Northwest studying and learning alongside prison learners from a Category D men's prison, HMP Westborough. Using in-depth interviews with former prison learners on the course, the article unpacks the benefits and challenges of critical andragogy in a prison setting. Whilst critically addressing the notion that critical andragogy can have long term ‘transformative’ or ‘rehabilitative’ effects for incarcerated learners, this article focuses on the more immediate context of the learning environment, presenting a core finding that it can be a space for, albeit temporarily, ‘momentary emancipation’.