Educational Experiences in Prison: Greyhounds and Humans Teaching and Learning Together

There are now dozens of greyhound adoption groups in the United States that partner with prisons. These groups have developed programs in which inmates are taught how to prepare dogs for adoption and, beyond that, for life outside the racing industry. Drawing on Jane Roland Martin’s theory of education as encounter and John Dewey’s theory of experience, in this chapter I consider the sense in which, under particular circumstances, such programs enable inmates to have educative experiences (Dewey, 1938/1997; Martin, 2011). Some of these educative experiences are a result mainly of the inmates’ interactions with volunteers who teach basic dog-training skills. Other educative experiences are a result of the inmates’ interactions with the dogs. I argue further that, under a broadened conception of education developed by Martin, such programs enable dogs to have educative experiences as well (Martin, 2011, pp. 56–60).