Open education asks a lot of its people – to advocate, build, facilitate, and sustain – often without recognition, compensation, or a space to ask how they are actually doing. The result for many of these leaders is quiet exhaustion and a growing sense that they are carrying this work alone.
The Rebus Luminary Fellowship for Education Leaders brought together fifteen postsecondary leaders across Canada and the United States for a three-month program designed around one core belief: that the people doing this work deserve to be taken care of, too. In this panel, Luminary Fellows speak honestly about what it means to lead in these times – the burnout, the isolation, the moments of doubt – and what has helped them keep going.
This session offers both solidarity and strategy. Attendees will leave with concrete practices for sustaining themselves and their communities, as well as the reassurance that they are not alone in this work.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Identify shared experiences of burnout, isolation, and doubt that open education leaders commonly face.
- Describe concrete strategies for sustaining themselves and their communities in times of uncertainty and change.
- Reflect on their own leadership practice in light of insights shared by Luminary Fellows.
- Apply at least one strategy or insight from Luminary Fellows to their own professional context.
