Inside Tutor Training Program

The Inside Tutor Training Program by the Petey Greene Program (PGP) is a pilot program designed to prepare incarcerated individuals to serve as academic leaders and mentors for their peers. The initiative provides incarcerated scholars with the same high-quality pedagogical training and leadership development we offer our outside volunteers. Incarcerated scholars are already self-organizing to advance each other’s academic goals—our training supports and professionalizes these efforts. By collaborating with the organic learning communities that already exist behind bars, our goal is to foster environments where scholars support scholars.

Our curriculum includes a core introductory session of four hours with discussions and practice activities about:

• High-quality tutoring

• Tutoring strategies

• Educational ethics

• Trauma-informed practice

Optional follow-up sessions are tailored to meet the needs of each group of tutors and students, such as tutoring for college-level writing, tutoring math, and supporting students in developing test-taking skills.

Core Training Pillars.

Our curriculum is designed to equip incarcerated tutors with the pedagogical tools they need to foster a culture of "scholars supporting scholars." We focus on three key areas:

Guided Inquiry

We teach the Socratic Method, a style of tutoring that focuses on guided inquiry. Instead of simply giving away the answers, our tutors learn how to ask the types of questions that lead their peers to their own "aha!" moments. This builds student confidence and ensures long-term understanding.

Leading with Empathy

Teaching in carceral settings requires more than just academic knowledge; it requires emotional intelligence. Our tutors are trained in trauma-informed practice and educational ethics, helping them navigate the unique social dynamics of a prison environment with empathy, professionalism, and fairness.

Building a Strong Foundation 

We ensure our tutors are proficient in the subjects their peers need most. From foundational literacy and math skills required to pass the GED, to the advanced academic writing needed for College Bridge courses, our tutors are prepared to help students succeed at every level of their educational journey.

Why It Matters

Many of our Inside Tutors are older individuals with advanced degrees or long-term sentences who utilize this program to remain engaged in education and serve as leaders. For those returning home, this training provides formal professional experience and a tangible record of leadership for their resumes.

• Many tutors are already providing educational support services to their peers informally, and have already constructed learning communities inside the prison that can be separate from or extensions of traditional classroom experiences. Providing these training and tutoring opportunities formalizes this existing work and provides a reason for those who may have completed all the educational opportunities available at a given facility to to remain active in the education department. 

• This approach that recognizes and harnesses the power of structures that are already in place is in line with the PGP’s philosophy that respects the knowledge students already have, rather than seeing them as a blank slate. Our goal is to supplement students’ learning environment rather than replacing what they have with what we assume they need as outsiders.

• Inside tutors offer services outside of the set hours that our outside tutors are allowed inside the facility, giving students more opportunities for support than they would have otherwise. They are also able to continue to provide services when the prison is closed due to staff holidays, lockdowns, understaffing, and other logistical concerns that may prevent our outside tutors from entering the facility. This helps reduce the number of disruptions in services that our students would ordinarily face, contributing to better academic progress and retention.

Participation in this training results in a 20% increase in self-confidence among tutors and a 30% increase in their confidence to help others reach their academic goals.

Looking Ahead

To date, we have run 6 Inside Tutor Trainings, each tailored to one of 3 facilities: SCI Greene, FCI Fort Dix, SCI Chester. In total, 77 tutors have attended Inside Tutor Training.

In the summer 2025, we received a 2-year grant from the Mellon Foundation to refine and expand our Inside Tutor training and program, with a focus on preparing inside tutors to support students in Higher Education in Prison programs. This includes:

• Offering Inside Tutor Trainings in a growing number of correctional facilities

• Formalizing a structured series of trainings, beyond the initial sessions, ideally ensuring that scholars who complete it receive academic credit

• Compensating incarcerated tutors

• Identifying and disseminating best practices

• Convening a national working group on learning communities, research, and co-creation in carceral facilities