TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIALS OF OPEN EDUCATIONIN THEORY, POLICY, AND PRACTICE

JAMISON R. MILLER

Open education has the potential to sustainably transform extant educational institutions into more equitable and democratic forms.

THESIS:

The subscription room at Lloyd's of London in the early 19th century. CC(0)

Open Education in1) THEORYOpen Education as a Real Utopia

2) POLICYThe “Neoliberal Tinge” in Open Education?: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Open Education Policies in Virginia

3) PRACTICEFrom EDUPUNK to Open Policy: Critical Technology Praxis in Higher Education

Image CC (BY-NC) Jonathan Cohen

The “Neoliberal Tinge” in Open Education?: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Open Education Policies in Virginia

∎ Tkacz (2015) book, Wikipedia and the Politics of Openness, along with ∎ Critical Theory (Horkheimer, 1947;1972) and∎ Semiotics and linguistics (Derrida, 1973; Foucault, 1972; Kristeva, )

constitute the theoretical framework for the study.Image: Warwick University

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

● How are open educational resources and associated practices discursively framed in institutional and state policies and legislation in Virginia?

● What ideological underpinnings, beliefs, and meanings are evident in open education policy?

● How is open education discursively positioned as an alternative to extant practices in education?

Image CC (BY-SA) Véronique Debord-Lazaro

Fairclough (1993, 1995)

Texts present ideologies, beliefs, messages, and meanings.

CDA proposes to illuminate these messages, how they are framed, and how they can be resisted and usurped.

Gee (1999)Language is not merely a means of communication, but also orders social activity.

CDA is concerned with how text presents discursive practices- the ways in which we are in the world.

Martínez-Alemán (2015)

Has been applying CDA in higher education policy analysis. Identifies its primary purposes as 1) to reveal ideological foundations of discourse, and 2) to provide evidence (data) to support corrective action

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

Image CC (BY-SA) Pleuntje

DATA COLLECTION

Virginia’s Legislative Information System & SCHEV● Search “open education” + find related terms in targeted legislation

(11)

OER Policy Registry at Creative Commons● Search “United States of America” + “Virginia” (7)

Virginia Community College System● Z-Degree and Zx23 programs (17)

Four-Year Universities● Virginia Tech, Virginia State, W&M

Open education policies from 2007–2016

DATA ANALYSIS

Image CC (BY) Angie Garrett

Following Martínez-Alemán (2015), CDA is derived from an array of social science techniques and not a singular method. Thus, analysis is complex and will likely entail:

Establishing context(s)● Identification of connections between aspects that construct and restrict discourse

○ CULTURE, SOCIAL IDENTITY, and LANGUAGE● Identification of linkages between TEXT, STRUCTURAL POWER, and CONTEXT

Framing the text (McGregor, 2004)● Power relations: who is depicted in power, who has agency, who does not?● Omission of information, nominalization (converting verbs to nouns), passive verbs● Presuppositions, what is assumed by the author?● Insinuations and connotations● Tone of certainty and authority● Register, do the words spoken ring true?

DATA ANALYSIS

Image CC (BY) Angie Garrett

ASSUMPTIONS● Built on the assumptions that language is more than the mechanics

of communication; it orders social practices and expresses ideology and thus holds impact on actions

DELIMITATIONS● Focused on institutional and state-level higher education policies

from Virginia from 2007-2016

LIMITATIONS● As open education policies are only just emerging, there are

relatively few examples from which to draw● This study will not be analyzing the impact of evident discourses

Image CC (BY-SA) Edith Soto

TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIALS OF OPEN EDUCATIONIN THEORY, POLICY, AND PRACTICE

JAMISON R. MILLER