Building on the success of the ‘Stoic philosophy in prisons’ project and comparable US initiatives, this article explains the rationale for focusing on Aristotle’s works and ideas, particularly their relevance to ethical decision-making, rhetoric, emotional intelligence, and life planning. Topics included persuasion and listening skills, the exploration of emotions through Greek tragedy, and philosophical approaches to friendship, purpose, and leisure. By enhancing learners’ cultural capital through Aristotelian philosophy, participants reported shifts in how they understood their past, present, and future. Reflecting on the project’s first year across three prison settings, we here summarise what has been learned by academics, prison educators, and learners, and offer recommendations for classicists and philosophers seeking to engage in collaborative research with incarcerated populations.
Introduction
Since 2017, the Advocating Classics Education (ACE) project has worked to widen access to the study of the ancient world across schools, colleges, and communities in the UK. Led by Edith Hall and Arlene Holmes-Henderson, ACE has collaborated with universities, charities, exam boards, and museums to increase participation in Classical Civilisation and Ancient History among young people aged 11–18. Its impact has been considerable: by 2024, Classical Civilisation was the fastest-growing GCSE subject of the OCR exam board, and Ancient History entries reached their highest level since the qualification began.
Despite these successes, a persistent question remained: what about those least likely to encounter the ancient world—young people and adults in custody? In 2024, ACE expanded into youth offender institutions (YOIs) and prisons, responding to longstanding ambitions to bring classical learning to marginalised learners in the UK. We decided to centre our work on Aristotle, and delivered eight sessions in three UK prisons.
Education in UK Prisons
The UK imprisons more people, and for longer, than any other European country. Educational provision within prisons remains limited and uneven, rightly prioritising literacy, numeracy, and vocational training. While these are essential, access to broader intellectual enrichment is constrained by staff shortages, long waiting lists for education courses, and security regimes. Degree-level study is available via the Open University but only to a small proportion of prisoners nearing release.
All prisons have libraries, yet access to books is restricted, and learners frequently report frustration at the limited choice. Teaching typically takes place in education blocks with classrooms resembling mainstream settings but subject to heightened security measures (e.g. pens are counted in and out; scissors are stored in a locked cupboard). Internet access is prohibited and multimedia use is restricted.
Despite these constraints, learners display familiar educational behaviours: curiosity, frustration, enthusiasm, and self-doubt. Many receive psychological or pastoral support, and, when present in the classroom, are generally ready and eager to learn. These conditions shaped both the opportunities and limitations of our Aristotle project.
Collaborative Beginnings
From its inception, the project was developed in partnership with Novus Foundations for Change, a national prison education provider and charity. Following discussions between Edith Hall and Novus’s National Creative Strategies Manager, Sarah Hartley, the team proposed an enrichment course grounded in Aristotle’s secular ethics and rhetoric, framed as “ancient wisdom for modern life.” I joined the project later, bringing my own expertise in teacher education and pedagogy. Together, we designed an eight-session course titled An Introduction to the Ancient World, combining philosophy with history, rhetoric, drama, and material culture. The course was initially piloted in a YOI in the North East of England, aligning with Durham University’s civic university commitments. The original sessions ranged broadly across Greek and Roman civilisation, with Aristotle sitting alongside other aspects of classical culture. Ethical approval was secured, funding obtained from Durham University for travel expenses, and Novus agreed to provide all course texts.
Pilot Delivery: Prison 1 (HMP Deerbolt)
HMP Deerbolt is a Category C training prison housing young adult men. Initial recruitment generated over twenty expressions of interest, though attendance stabilised at around ten regular learners due to competing demands such as gym access and legal/medical appointments.
Early sessions revealed challenges familiar in custodial education: overlapping speech, attempts to redirect discussion to personal or institutional grievances, and mixed levels of engagement. Over time, however, classroom culture improved, and relationships between learners and teachers strengthened.
The teaching team expanded to include academic staff, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students, enabling interdisciplinary delivery across philosophy, drama, and material culture. The final session focused on structured feedback, facilitated by the team from a popular Classics podcast (‘Against the Lore’) to encourage honest reflection. We felt that learners might feel more comfortable highlighting deficiencies to ‘neutral’ observers rather than communicating them directly to the teaching team, whose feelings they may prefer to spare.
Learners cited motivations including curiosity, a desire to try something new, and the appeal of university-level teaching. They valued the dialogic pedagogy, the opportunity to share opinions freely, and the relevance of philosophy to everyday moral decisions. Rhetoric sessions were particularly impactful, raising awareness of persuasion in politics and media, while drama activities fostered confidence and collaboration.
Learner feedback included:
‘I thought it would be quite regimented. You'd be sitting there in a classroom setting like eyes forward, no one talk. You know, making notes. But it was completely the opposite. You could share your opinions, it was very free and flowing. We all sat around in a circle we all engaged with each other, people I've never even met before. Even though in the same prison.’
‘My favourite session was probably the philosophy. I mean, how they deal with everyday situations of life and death, morality. You know, something bad happens to someone. What does it mean? That's why I was quite sceptical about it at the start. I just thought I don't think this will work. People disagreeing with each other in a place like this. But it does. It does.’
Prison educators reported positive spillover effects into other classrooms, with learners sharing ideas and demonstrating improved confidence, mutual respect, and emotional regulation.
Sally (prison educator): ‘I've been seeing them back in the classroom. They've all been really excited for the next session. They've talked about what they've done, the shared ideas they've told other learners in the classrooms as well, what they've been doing. And there's been a real buzz about the entire project across everybody who has been doing it, but also by sharing it with the wider classrooms as well. And even today, people say, ‘how do I get on the Classics course, Miss?’. It’s not something they would have ever expected that they would be doing in prison. And it's open to them. It's inclusive. They're all listened to, all heard, and they've all taken an awful lot from it in very different ways. Like seeing them listening to each other, challenging each other. But there's…a layer of respect so that they, you know, they’re pushing the tolerance and the mutual respect and listening and challenging at the same time. But it stays there. It doesn't escalate into anything more, which I think is quite a big skill to have; a disagreement without conflict. They all feel safe enough to be able to get their opinions across, while challenging others with respect and mutual tolerance.
A lot of the learners that we have are big believers in self-help and I guess philosophy fits in nicely there. I have a lot of conversations with them about different philosophies and different methods of keeping your own head because ultimately when you're in prison, that's the one thing you don't want to lose is your head.’
Feedback also highlighted areas for improvement: material culture was less engaging, the historical scope too broad, and fortnightly sessions proved too spaced for retention of information. Learners strongly recommended a more intensive delivery model and a sharper focus on philosophy, rhetoric, and drama.
Revised Course: Prison 2 (HMP Swinfen Hall)
At HMP Swinfen Hall, a Category C prison for young adult men, security restrictions were tighter and class attendance more inconsistent due to staffing shortages and interpersonal tensions among learners. The cohort exhibited a wide variation in educational backgrounds.
Based on feedback from HMP Deerbolt, the course was redesigned to centre explicitly on Aristotle and practical philosophy. Sessions addressed rhetoric, virtue ethics, decision-making, friendship, recreation, leisure and purpose, alongside a drama workshop and structured life-planning activities.
Learner feedback indicated strong appreciation for the respectful learning environment, the diversity of the teaching team, and the relevance of philosophical concepts to personal relationships and future ambitions. Aristotle’s categorisation of friendship resonated particularly strongly, reframing learners’ perceptions of social bonds within and beyond the prison walls.
‘I thought the class would be really boring and history-centric but it was engaging, thought-provoking and informative. Not just ‘Ancient History’ but how democracy works, and self-representation in the courts. It was great to listen and to reflect on how things have changed. I always thought the Ancient Greek philosophers weren’t easily accessible or that you had to study Greek to understand their methods but the way that Edith and Arlene broke down their works into chunks was interesting and humanising. Massive thank you.’
‘I now like Aristotle because of his opinions. Learning about the four categories of friendships was really useful. I didn’t think I had any friends but now that I know there are different categories, I think maybe I do.’
Suggestions for improvement focused on extending the course, increasing interactive activities, and ensuring age-appropriate resources. Overall, the revised curriculum was judged to be a significantly better fit than the original survey model.
Women’s estate: Prison 3 (HMP New Hall)
The third delivery took place at HMP New Hall, a women’s prison with a markedly different institutional culture. Learners ranged from 18 to 71 years old, including prisoners on remand, some with mobility needs. Classroom dynamics were consistently respectful, with high retention and enthusiastic engagement.
The play we chose for male prisons (Philoctetes) simply wouldn’t work in the women’s estate so we swapped to Antigone, opening up several female roles. The play generated rich discussion in class about law, justice, and moral courage. Performance activities proved transformative for several learners, boosting confidence and self-esteem.
An expanded teaching team enabled small-group discussion and rapid relationship-building. Feedback emphasised themes of rediscovered purpose, self-worth, and empowerment, particularly through sessions on potential, rhetoric, and friendship. Learners expressed interest in learning ancient languages and studying women and goddesses from antiquity, prompting the development of new teaching materials.
A senior Ministry of Justice policy official observed the life-planning session and later commented, ‘I was really impressed by the way the women were able to engage, not just with Aristotle, but with what [it] meant for themselves and their lives.’
Learners said:
‘I didn’t realise I had a purpose and what I wanted in life most until I did the session on potential and recreation.’
‘I still have potential, even if I don’t feel like it sometimes.’
‘Had I been taught about Aristotle’s friendship types while at school, I would not now be in prison.’
‘Demoting bad friends has improved my self esteem. I value myself more and won’t be taken for granted any longer.’
‘The play was engaging and really powerful. I have grown in confidence as a direct result.’
‘Rhetoric blew my mind! I enjoyed the practical exercises and can’t wait to communicate differently on the wing, and with family on the outside.’
Scaling Up and Knowledge Exchange
To ensure sustainability, the project team partnered with Novus to deliver a “train the trainer” programme for education staff from fifteen UK prisons in January 2026. This aimed to embed the course within prison education provision, supported initially by team-teaching on-site.
The project has also generated wider impact across the Classics education community. Parallel initiatives now include a functional literacy programme using Greek and Latin word roots via the Latin Programme charity partners, and additional philosophy teaching in YOIs inspired by the Durham–Novus collaboration. Our project has been shortlisted for a national award in the LTE Group Outstanding Achievement Awards 2025-26 (category: Outstanding Team: Learner Facing).
Conclusion
Teaching Aristotle in prisons has proved intellectually rigorous, pedagogically innovative, and personally transformative for learners and educators alike. Across three distinct custodial environments, Aristotelian philosophy, rhetoric, and Athenian drama fostered critical thinking, social cohesion, confidence, and a renewed sense of purpose. For the teaching team, the project exemplified what Davidson (Research Intelligence, 164 (2025) 24) terms “two-way transformations,” reaffirming the value of engaged scholarship beyond the academy. We welcome new collaborators and/or funders to contact us. There are lots of ways to get involved.
The first year of delivery demonstrates that there is an appetite from incarcerated learners to engage with ancient ideas. The challenge ahead lies in sustaining and expanding this work, ensuring that access to the ancient world is not confined by walls, fences, or expectations.
Arlene Holmes-Henderson is Professor of Classics Education and Public Policy, Durham University. For more information see the Guardian article on the project: Classicists take ‘ancient philosophical wisdom’ into English jails | Prisons and probation | The Guardian. This article is due to appear soon in: Holmes-Henderson, A. ‘Aristotle in UK prison education’ in Hall, E., Holmes-Henderson, A., McInnes-Gibbons, R. and Monoson, S. (eds.) Summoning Aristotle: explorations in his public reception, Liverpool University Press.