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University of Geneva, Switzerland |
1 Introduction
Education Ouverte et Libre – Open Education (EOL-OE) is a newly born scientific journal launching with the support of an IntenSciF funding (EUR 20 000), received in 2021 by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie. IntenSciF is designed to accelerate emerging projects with high scientific and societal potential.
After a period of preparation to set up on one hand the infrastructure of the journal, with the support of the University of Geneva Library, and, on the other hand, the epistemic ecosystem of the journal, which includes the promotion of Open Science values through:
- an open-peer review process for responsibility and transparency purposes
- the translation of an extended 1000 words summary of the article in the 6 UN languages
- the documentation of the positionality of author(s)
- the possibility to submit an article or an oral piece in any language,
we are pleased to announce that the first volume of EOL-OE has been completed. It has been regrouped into two digital volumes - Volumes 1 and 2.
2 The journal
There are already many places where you can contribute to and discuss issues related to Open Education[1]. And if there are so many existing forums, what could an additional journal do, you may ask.
EOL-OE has the ambition to turn the talk and the medium into action, using Openness to renovate education and research in education. Basically, it started as a scholarly journal in the current understanding of academic practices and intends to reach out to new possibilities to include and value citizen and community knowledge. After this initial start-up phase, it is now looking for an alternative and sustainable economic model and is very tempted to look at the commons (Brando et al., 2019; Haller et al., 2021). Managing a resource, i.e. this journal, as a common good, within a community of interested stakeholders who would care for it and for whom it is valuable would be the next goal to achieve. What benefits could commoners and contributors gain? The answer may lie in a question of ethics, responsibility, and values but definitely needs to be researched. And if you are interested in this topic, you may look at the second call Open Education and the Commons, https://oap.unige.ch/journals/eol-oe/announcement/view/30 .
In short, this journal represents an opportunity to exercise our academic freedom and contribute to making education and research in education a little less broken (to borrow from Rajiv Jhangiani's the opposite of Open is broken) (Jhangiani, 2017) and we are confident it will find a community to make it succeed.
Another ambition of this journal is to focus on education and the purpose of education in a long-term paradigm shift perspective, aiming towards sustainability (Sterling, 2021). In fact, Open Education is made up of two fundamental concepts: Openness and Education. While the first is widely discussed, the second is usually not discussed at all and/or taken for granted. We must not forget that Openness is “a means and not an end in itself” (Corti, 2022). But a means to what? What is the purpose of education? These fundamental questions are the driving force behind this journal.
At present, one direction seems particularly valuable for investigating the purpose of education: considering the diversity of knowledge systems to explore education in its plurality. By exploring education around the world, silenced approaches to education are made visible as a step towards sharing knowledge and gaining in-depth insights into what education can be. This knowledge, in turn can become a source of inspiration and imagination to reflect on the purpose of Education.
3 First volume
The first call[2], upon invitation, entitled “Open Education for the Knowledge Society” invited experts from different fields to imagine the future of Open Education. In launching this call, the initial idea was to provide some guidance to young researchers new to the field but also to provide a compass for senior scholars. This idea is only partially realised for several reasons. The first is the timeframe. A compass is a long-term endeavour and an objective for the journal not for one of its volumes. The second is that scholars do not feel allowed to use their imagination. In the diversity of the 6 articles, the message is that Open Education can be leveraged in and for very different contexts, contributing to the broader reflection on the purpose of education. They can be grouped into two broad categories in discussing Education and Openness more at the level of epistemology or more at the level of practice.
Daniel Burgos and Saïda Affouneh introduce the Open Education & Science Crisis (OES-Crisis) framework to guarantee access, use and re-use of educational material in toughest settings. The framework is organized into 5 skill-sets: 1) literacy skills, 2) digital literacy skills, 3) safety and security skills, 4) hope and resilience skills, and 5) life skills.
Maggi Savin-Baden discusses qualitative research methods in the postdigital, a stance to challenge effects of digital technology on humanity and the environment. She questions the way in which data interpretation is poorly carried out, leading, among other things, to an undervaluation of the importance of portrayal.
Mona Laroussi and Mokhtar BenHenda focus on OER used to improve the intellectual and professional status of girls and women in the Francophone context. They present the editorial policy that founds the OER for gender equality - Ressources Educatives Libres pour l'Egalité Femmes-Hommes - promoted by the Institut de la Francophonie pour l'éducation et la formation.
Sara Ouahib, Rachid Bendaoud, Souhad Shlaka and Khalid Berrada discuss OER and Open Educational Practices (OEP) and present them as a safe solution, especially in uncertain times. Through a case study of University Cadhi Ayad, Morocco, they highlight the advantages and challenges of adopting open solutions.
Mogobe Ramose offers a reflection on education and its underlying paradigm from a South African insider's perspective. Using the economicide, epistemicide and religicide perpetrated against Africa, he shows what the philosophy of Ubu-ntu could bring to education. Ubu refers to enfolded being (ontology) and ntu to the nodal point where being takes concrete form (epistemology). Ubu-ntu is inextricably linked to umu-ntu, which directs epistemology towards the ontology of ubu. In short, ubu-ntu is strongly related to an understanding of humanness and promotes the recognition of being and becoming to promote the good without disregarding natural phenomena.
Maryvonne Charmillot discusses researchers’ challenges when adopting minority positions. She suggests, along with other authors, to consider the epistemological posture of a researcher as a space for ethical reflection. This space invites researchers to steer their conduct as researchers contributing to the production of knowledge in education.
Open Education and Open Science in contexts of crises by Daniel Burgos, Affouneh Saïda, https://oap.unige.ch/journals/eol-oe/article/view/750
The death of data interpretation and throwing sheep in a postdigital age by Maggi Savin-Baden, https://oap.unige.ch/journals/eol-oe/article/view/754
Ressources Éducatives Libres et éducation ouverte : l’écosystème RELIEFH pour l’égalité femme-homme par Mona Laroussi et Mokhtar Ben Henda, https://oap.unige.ch/journals/eol-oe/article/view/1155
OER as a certain solution for uncertain times: A reflection on the initiatives undertaken in Morocco during the covid-19 period by Sara Ouahib, Rachid Bendaoud, Souhad Shlaka & Khalid Berrada, https://oap.unige.ch/journals/eol-oe/article/view/1118
The meaning of sharing under marketised education: an Ubu-ntu perspective by Mogobe Ramose, https://oap.unige.ch/journals/eol-oe/article/view/939
Epistemology as a compass by Maryvonne Charmillot, https://oap.unige.ch/journals/eol-oe/article/view/1177
4 Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Paul Stacey for his invaluable support from day one and for his ongoing feedback and insights, including for this editorial.
Special thanks to Perrine de Coëtlogon for all her energy in the service of Openness within the Francophonie.
Special thanks to the members of the editorial board, the authors, the reviewers, the translators, the technical team, the library of the University of Geneva, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie and all the supporting members.
5 References
Brando, N., Boonen, C., Cogolati, S., Hagen, R., Vanstappen, N., & Wouters, J. (2019). Governing as commons or as global public goods: Two tales of power. International Journal of the Commons, 13(1), 553–577. https://doi.org/10.18352/ijc.907
Corti, P. (2022). Private communication - Feedback to a draft of the roadmap to Open Education (see https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7002915 ).
Haller, T., Liechti, K., Stuber, M., Viallon, F.-X., & Wunderli, R. (Eds.). (2021). Balancing the Commons in Switzerland: Institutional Transformations and Sustainable Innovations. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003043263 .
Jhangiani, R. S. (2017). Open as Default. The Future of Education and Scholarship. In R. S. Jhangiani & R. Biswas-Diener (Eds.), Open. The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science (pp. 267-280). Ubiquity Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3t5qh3.26
Sterling, S. (2021). Concern, Conception, and Consequence: Re-thinking the Paradigm of Higher Education in Dangerous Times. Frontiers in Sustainability, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2021.743806