Military, Religious, and Correctional Education (Module 6)

This week's focus was on a wide variety of settings for adult education with which I had little experience.  The closest my experience has been to these settings is with a group I volunteer with.  Casa San Jose is a resource center for Latinx immigrants in Pittsburgh was founded by a Catholic Sister of St. Joseph.  There are occasionally religious education offerings in addition to programs such as legal education programs, home buying seminars, and advocacy work.

Luckily one of my musical colleagues is also a licensed therapist who has a lot of experience in two of these categories, religious and correctional education.  These two settings combined in the several years she spent teaching psycho-education classes in parenting and relationships for women incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail.  From my interview with her as well as previous conversations we have had about her experiences, it seems like a very challenging job.  Although she did not function in a religious capacity there, her own religious background, as well as her training as a therapist, helped her navigate the challenges and find the rewards in an often difficult setting.  She definitely has a quiet strength that I believe was an asset in this position.  I'm not sure I have the right set of traits for this setting, but it was wonderful to see how different aspects of adult education can intersect.