Open for antiracism: supporting educators to use open education for antiracist teaching
Published October 2022, Journal for Multicultural Education, Emerald
Authors
Una T. Daly Open Education Global, Inc., Concord, Massachusetts, USA
James Glapa-Grossklag College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, California, USA
Alyssa Nguyen and Ireri Valenzuela The Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges, San Rafael, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The Open for Antiracism program supports faculty to change their teaching practices to be antiracist through the affordances of open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy. This study aims to raise questions about how professional development impacts student outcomes, and how faculty perceive the utility of OER and open pedagogy to support antiracist teaching and learning.
Design/methodology/approach – An evaluation plan examined how faculty participants perceived the effectiveness of OER and open pedagogy to make their classes antiracist. Students compared their experiences in treated classes with those in other classes. Participating faculty completed pre- and post surveys and a subset sat for interviews.
Findings – Faculty participants felt prepared to implement antiracist practices using OER and open pedagogy. Eighty-seven percent reported they were highly likely to recommend the program and 80% plan to continue using open pedagogy. Eighty percent of students reported they were more active or engaged than in other classes and that they examined biases of the discipline.
Originality/value – This study raises the question of how antiracist teaching approaches impact student outcomes over a longer term. Further, how can changes to teaching strategies impact institutions? Do teams of instructors offer support in ways that lead to a greater voice within an institution? This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license.
Open for Antiracism Faculty Training Program Shows Promising Results – SPARC
Published October 6, 2022
A new program that teaches community college faculty how to use open practices to create a more inclusive learning environment is producing positive results.
The Open for Antiracism program — known as OFAR — is beginning its third year of training faculty members in California on Open Educational Resources (OER), open pedagogy and anti-racist teaching practices.
With funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, leaders from the Community College Consortium for Open Education Resources (CCCOER) at Open Education Global and College of the Canyons created a year-long online program. It includes a 6-week course, followed by technical support as participants weave what they learned into their classrooms.