19 Aug The Essential Characteristics of Opened Culture
The Genesis of Opened Culture
At the heart of any significant movement is the essence of culture. Renowned Jamaican scholar and cultural studies pioneer, Stuart Hall, defines culture as “the practice of giving meaning to people, objects, and events.” It’s through these lenses that we begin to understand the profound impact of culture in shaping communities, values, beliefs, and systems of communication. This understanding becomes even more pivotal when we pivot towards the realm of open education.
Opened Culture, as we perceive it, is a vibrant ecosystem where attitudes, values, and beliefs are cultivated to advance educational access and foster openness. It’s where institutions and communities intentionally clear the path for access, collaboration, and growth, championing the space and time necessary for educators and learners to engage in open and inventive practices.
Essential Characteristics of Opened Culture
Building from Stuart Halls’ people, objects, and events, when we think about an opened culture, it’s more than just the transactional use and creation of open educational resources (OER). It’s the collective efforts to support entire communities moving forward to build and sustain accessible and inclusive pathways to education. We define opened culture as a vibrant, active, and enduring ecosystem that gives meaning to openness and educational access through collaboration (about the “people,” or how we work together), creation (about the “objects,” or what we make), and connection (about the “events,” or how we engage with the community we serve).
Within an opened culture our collaborations bring together stakeholders from across our community in partnership toward shared goals. Our creative work helps us to produce and utilize resources in responsible and meaningful ways. And our connections allow us to directly engage the communities we serve in humanizing and empowering ways.
Opened culture is defined as a vibrant, active, and enduring ecosystem that gives meaning to openness and educational access through collaboration, creation, and connection.
Opened Culture as the Union of Culture and Open Pedagogy
So what does it look like to instantiate and sustain an opened culture within and across a community? Drawing inspiration from Bronwyn Hegarty’s Eight Attributes of Open Pedagogy, a framework for opened culture emerges. It’s a constellation of participatory technologies, openness, trust, innovation, creativity, sharing, connected community, learner generation, reflective practice, and peer review. Each element is a testament to the actions, creations, and values cherished within an opened culture.
Participatory Technologies
Collaboration
Building communities of practice (CoPs) enhances skills in open educational practices (OEP)
Creation
Sharing groundbreaking practices for the creation and dissemination of open educational resources (OER)
Connection
Fostering community through digital platforms centered around OEP
People, Openness, and Trust
Collaboration
Encouraging a culture of openness and sharing across organizational groups
Creation
Supporting the transparent sharing of ongoing work to stimulate continuous improvement
Connection
Promoting empowering discussions on sharing practices
Innovation and Creativity
Collaboration
Forming interdisciplinary teams to pioneer new approaches in OEP
Creation
Investing in novel tools and spaces to spur innovation
Connection
Providing opportunities for developing creative literacy skills
Sharing Ideas and Resources
Collaboration
Creating a network of champions leading training and professional development
Creation
Spotlighting exemplars of open practices, processes, and products
Connection
Building a recognition system that rewards the sharing of ideas
Connected Community
Collaboration
Gathering contributors and advocates from across campus
Creation
Leveraging the affordances of digital spaces to build community
Connection
Incentivizing participation in both informal and formal gatherings
Learner Generated
Collaboration
Situating students as contributors to OEP and open pedagogy
Creation
Connecting curricular innovation to students’ participation in open ed
Connection
Broadly sharing student work in open ed beyond the institution
Reflective Practice
Collaboration
Empowering educators to commit to a practice of continuous improvement of OER
Creation
Leveraging new efficiencies and technologies for assessing OER
Connection
Creating professional development around practices for ensuring the quality of OER
Peer Review
Collaboration
Convening educators and students to support each other in their OEP
Creation
Creating space for educators to surface new approaches for improving OER and OEP
Connection
Recognizing service contributions by providing colleagues feedback on their work
Conclusion
Cultivating an opened culture requires more than just individual effort; it demands organizational change. It’s about making conscious decisions to allocate time, space, and resources for everyone to participate in open educational practices.
As we embark on this journey together, we invite you to reflect on how you can contribute to fostering an opened culture within your own communities. What barriers can you help dismantle? What practices can you adopt to make education more accessible and collaborative?
