Part call to action, part practical guide, this session offers a new frame for considering open education work. Beginning with a brief overview of why values-based work matters, this session will aim to problematize some of the common working assumptions of open education and then argue for a new approach. It will highlight several key parallels between the stated goals of open education work and several of the core principles of mutual aid, including: solidarity, non-hierarchy, intersectionality, and collective action. Finally, it will invite the audience to imagine what other lessons can be gleaned from organizing and mutual aid practices that might better position open education work to continue its impact for the long haul.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Describe the importance of values-based work.
- Identify the ways in which open education work can prop up existing systems of exploitation and oppression.
- Recognize the overlap between the basic tenets of mutual aid and open education work.
- Devise strategies for integrating mutual aid principles and organizing tactics into open education work.
