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In my previous post, I wrote about open pedagogy as a new approach to education in its entirety. Not only does such a pedagogy require open and more accessible resources, it also entails a change of the approach to education in general. Education should be more creative and innovate, a departure from traditional education that is more rote and rather stagnant. It should be a synthesis of the students’ and the teacher’s experiences and insights, and not a complete dependence on pre-established educational materials.
I also criticised the use of textbooks in my last post. I mentioned that it was created a divide between students, one that is based on the economic capability of students to purchase textbooks. In today’s modern society, it is difficult to comprehend how education is still dependent on economic capability, especially in the higher education levels. This need for textbooks also created a market for digital forms of books, which, although more accessible, are also equally expensive. Moreover, electronic books cannot be passed on to other students, since they only operate within certain time periods. I also mentioned that the use of textbooks was a pedagogical issue, in a sense that education was dependent on textbooks. Assignments and lessons were based on the chapters of the book you were following for a particular subject. If you did not have a textbook, it would be impossible to pass a class. Even worse, you will not be able to learn.
As I think about it more, I find it interesting that my main criticism was about the use of textbooks. I say “interesting” because most of us have grown up in an educational system that knew nothing but this practice. Criticising the dependence on textbooks, then, is almost an attack to most of our educational backgrounds. Of course, we cannot change the past, and our teachers and school staff worked with what they thought was the best option at that time. Realising the gap that this educational practice has caused is necessary to improving education.
And now we get to the answer—open pedagogy. I only touched about this in the last post. Basically, open pedagogy values the principles of openness and accessibility. Unlike traditional educational systems that inevitably cause divisions, open pedagogy fosters inclusivity. But what are the particular elements of an open pedagogy education system? I did my research, and discovered that there are four main pillars, values, if you may, of open pedagogy. These are access and equity, community and connection, agency and ownership, and opportunity and risk (Sinkinson, 2018). In any open pedagogy system, habits and values of learning and teaching should revolve around these four pillars.
- Access and Equity
In my opinion, access and equity is the fundamental element of open pedagogy. After all, education would not be considered as “open” if it was everyone was not given equal opportunities to access it. Another level of access and equity is of course, the materials themselves. In open pedagogy, educational resources, whether they are printed, electronic, or mechanical/technical (i.e. machines, computers, devices, etc.) should be available to all learners.
- Community and Connection
Learning does not come from materials alone, but from the interaction between learners and teachers. Meaningful connections build community. Without these, learning will be stagnant and dull. New insights cannot be generated when learning is dependent on a singular resource. Hence, open pedagogy also requires that the learning process itself is interactive and innovative.
- Agency and Ownership
This is closely related to community and connection. Open pedagogy requires that students take ownership of their ideas and be able to express them in their own ways. This demonstrates agency and individual will and choice. Education that does not practice freedom in this way will not foster the ability of learners to think on their own, and create and develop new, individual ideas.
- Risk and Responsibility
Because open pedagogy is not the mainstream form of education yet, educators are still in the process of discovering and setting guidelines that ensure the viability of learning. Due to its open nature, knowledge can be twisted and misunderstood, leading to an unfavourable result of false information. Open learning also entails much responsibility, particularly in ensuring that resources are not used for wrong or malicious ways. Through open learning, much knowledge is fostered, but this must also be guarded.
Just like anything in its infancy, the principles and practices of open pedagogy are continuously changing. As more and more educational systems are observing this pedagogy, ways of maximising its potentials and minimising its harms are slowly being discovered. For now, we should be glad that there is such a thing as open pedagogy, as it fosters creativity and innovation.
Sources:
Sinkinson, Caroline. “The Values of Open Pedagogy.” Educause. Educause Review, 14 November 2018, https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2018/11/the-values-of-open-pedagogy
Stommel, Jesse. “Textbooks, OER, and the Need for Open Pedagogy.” Critical Digital Pedagogy. PressBooks, no date, https://criticaldigitalpedagogy.pressbooks.com/chapter/textbooks-oer-and-the-need-for-open-pedagogy/
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