APEnP – summary of the meeting in Vila Real (06-11 April 2022)

ERASMUS+ PROJECT (KA2)

THE CHRYSALIS AND THE BUTTERFLY

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PATHS OF PENITENTIARY PEDAGOGY

[2020-1-IT02-KA204-079355]

KICK-OFF MEETING

Vila Real 2022 (April 06-11)

The Erasmus+ project, The Chrysalis and the Butterfly – Autobiographical Paths of Penitentiary Pedagogy, under the key action 2: cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices, is based on a strategic partnership between organisations from 7 European countries aiming at sharing knowledge, methodologies and experiences in the field of adult education in prisons.

The starting point of this project, which was born out of the challenges faced by educational professionals (teachers, trainers, NGOs, volunteers, etc.) in their work in prisons, is the use of an autobiographical approach as a reference methodology that promotes the reconsideration of a past marked by deviant behaviour, enabling the inmate to better plan his/her future beyond the “prison walls”.

The first transnational meeting of the project partner organisations took place at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro – Vila Real, Portugal (06-11 April), hosted by the Portuguese Prison Education Association (APEnP). The main purpose of the meeting was for the partners to get to know each other better, as meetings had been held by videoconference during the previous year (2021) due to the pandemic.

At this meeting, the partners first shared their knowledge and experience of working with/in prisons, and then focused on the activities to be carried out under the project. Due to the constraints of the pandemic, these were re-analysed and planned to contribute to the production of a good practice handbook.

The partners also had the opportunity to learn more about the Adult Education and Training Programme implemented in Portugal and its specificities in the prison context.

To this end, the Director of the Diogo Cão School Cluster (Associated School of Vila Real Prison) and member of the governing bodies of APEnP, Armando Félix, participated in one of the meetings of the consortium, where he presented and clarified issues related to adult education in Portugal.

Thus, from the process of Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences (RVCC process) to the Certified Modular Training (FMC courses) and the Adult Education and Training (EFA courses), the partners recognised the similarities of the autobiographical methodology underlying this Erasmus+ project (life stories/experiences) with the model advocated for adult education in Portugal.

One of the highlights of this meeting was the participation of the partners in the 1^st International Cycle of Conferences: Education in Prisons – Paths and Challenges, an online event jointly organised by APEnP and the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (https://www.utad.pt/gform/en/evento/associacao-portuguesa-de-educacao-nas-prisoes-ciclo-de-conferencias-internacional-rumos-e-desafios/), where their presentations not only helped to enlighten the participants on the subject of education in prisons in their countries, but also to make a comparative analysis with the system in force in Portugal and to assess the respective (dis)similarities.

The presentation of the Erasmus+ project, The Chrysalis and the Butterfly – Autobiographical Paths of Penitentiary Pedagogy, which also took place during the 1^st session of the event, made it possible to highlight the challenges and potentialities, especially for the prison community, of the work developed by the partners as part of its implementation.

At the end of this 1^st transnational meeting in Portugal, the agenda for the next meeting of the consortium, in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in July (2022), and the date of the meeting in Zagreb (Croatia) in September (2022), were presented and discussed.

The programme of the meeting in Vila Real also included the opportunity for the partners to appreciate the beauty of the Trás-os-Montes region, with cultural visits to the Mateus Palace and the Douro Valley, where they could enjoy the landscape and gastronomy.

Finally, a word of thanks to the Municipality of Vila Real, whose Vice-President, Alexandre Favaios, was kind enough to join the Erasmus+ project partners in the city and honour them with an official reception at the City Hall.

APEⁿP