Exploring the instructional media usage and preference of offenders at the Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre, South Africa

This study explored the instructional media used in the correctional school and during rehabilitation programmes at the Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre and the preferences of offenders. Underpinned by the positivism paradigm, a quantitative approach was followed, and a cross-sectional survey design was used. The enumeration sampling technique was used due to the small size of the population (n = 571). Data were collected from 402 participants who were sentenced offenders, thus yielding a response rate of 70.40%. A Kolb Learning Style Questionnaire was used to collect data. Version 26.0.0 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed as part of data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that offenders at the Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre rely on teachers and chalkboard as the dominant media for instruction and that these have been used in the educational or schooling environment for many years. The Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre prefers using teacher and chalkboard instructional mediums, possibly to maintain security in the facility. Based on the findings it is recommended that Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre formulates and implements a strategy that seeks to deliberately provide variations of instructional media/mediums to accommodate different learning styles during the school lessons and rehabilitation programmes, as long as these do not affect the security within the facility. Key Words:Learning, Instructional media, Correctional centre, Learning preferences, Rehabilitation programmes