Open pedagogy values: Critical consciousness
This value involves concerted efforts to critically evaluate and actively change inequitable power structures in the educational environment and beyond. Focused on social justice, this work deconstructs the teacher-student binary and moves toward a model where instructors act as learning mediators and mentors. This shift fosters a non-hierarchical, learner-centric environment where all participants become co-travelers in education.
The work centers on ending teacher dominance and learner passivity by championing greater student autonomy, self-regulated learning, and student responsibility for learning. It prioritizes the inclusion of multiple perspectives, especially by centering the experiences of marginalized groups, to bridge formal and informal learning.
This is realized through a participatory culture and interactive learning that values learner choice and intellectual freedom. By reducing the use of authoritative resources and promoting cooperative learning, it strives to equalize access, increase accessibility, and destabilize normative pedagogies. Ultimately, it transforms education from a system of knowledge transfer and retrieval into a learner-driven process, empowering students as independent agents who add value to the world.