A Spanish course ELE in prison: a learning experience<

A Spanish course ELE in prison: a learning experience

I am a primary school teacher with an option to work with adults. In that moment I was in the list of substitution, when one day I recieved a message with informations about my new working place. I was amazed when I discovered that it was the men`s prison. I got really nervous because I didn´t know very well what I would do and especially how I was going to do it.

When the day came, my colleagues gave me some tips, since they spent several years of working there, both at security level, since I was in the prison, as well as some teaching methodology tips.
I took an initial/ intermediate level of Spanish for foreigners, to have experience in the field of teaching, which controlled the entire initial evaluation process, but what to do next? I searched for suitable books for activities, songs, videos, specifications... which sometimes had result. The students were motivated to learn and me with them but others didn´t have the desire to participate and learn. There were things I didn´t like.
I was analyzing the situation. Often the mistake was mine, I didn´t not known techniques, activities and ways to teach. This situation had to change, I had to change my way of working.
Then I thought.
With this type of student plays, one thing against is being enclosed and thinking all the time about liberty. Everyone was like this for a reason, since they had not been judged yet and therefore they had hope that they could be free. I was their contact with the outside world, since many of them did not have family or friends in the country. So, I questioned: What do you need to learn? This question was the key to start a reach learning experience and motivation.
So, since everyone wanted advice on what to do when they left, we practiced job interviews, finding flat, writing resumes, going shopping, ect... thus their motivation changed and mine too.
Working there made me learn a lot in personal and professional level, as I had to reflect on what is really important in these situations.