So, what do we mean when we say ‘Open Pedagogy’? What does it look like when enacted in the classroom?
Now that you’ve reflected on your own teaching values, let’s explore the six core values of open pedagogy identified by Werth and Williams. As you read through each value, notice which resonates most strongly with what you identified in Activity 1.
Traditionally, you, as an instructor, have the authority in the classroom, and students are there to listen. However, with OP, the focus is on ensuring students are heard and have a say in their education. This is done by giving students autonomy and the freedom to choose the direction of their learning.
In practice, this means taking a closer look at how power works in educational settings, being open to changing it, really listening to voices that don’t always get heard, and shifting teaching practices to focus on students’ strengths rather than what they’re missing.
How it’s expressed: You co-create syllabi or assignments with students. You give students choices about topics, formats, or assessment methods.
Examples across disciplines:
This value sees knowledge as something that is always growing and changing. OP challenges the teaching method in which instructors lecture students while they sit and listen. This emphasizes that you and your students can learn from each other and build together.
In practice, this means recognizing that learning is a collective process in which students contribute to content, not just consume it.
How it’s expressed: Students work together to create public-facing content like wikis, annotated bibliographies, or documentation that future students or practitioners can use.
Examples across disciplines:
Personalized learning allows students to control their learning. OP encourages students to choose what they learn, how they learn it, how they show that they’ve learned it, and when they learn. This can happen in a traditional classroom or a non-traditional learning environment.
In practice, this means: Building flexibility into your course so students can pursue topics that matter to them personally and professionally.
How it’s expressed: Students engage in self-directed inquiry, often making connections to their lived experiences, career goals, or community contexts.
Examples across disciplines:
This value encourages you to be open and honest with your students about how you grade and evaluate them. OP also encourages you to be transparent about yourself, your biases, and your personal beliefs and values, and how they affect your teaching. This allows your students to see that education and what they’re learning is shaped by people with particular viewpoints.
In practice, this means: Explaining why you designed an assignment this way, what you’re looking for when you grade, and how you made decisions about course content.
How it’s expressed: You share course materials, grading rubrics, your own learning process, and even your uncertainties openly.
Examples across disciplines:
This value sees students as active participants in their education with real power. OP encourages students to help create knowledge, have input about how learning happens, and be involved in their evaluations. OP strongly encourages you to treat students as partners in the educational process.
In practice, this means: Trusting students to make meaningful decisions about their learning and giving them genuine agency over outcomes.
How it’s expressed: Students have input into assessment criteria, engage in peer evaluation, or design their own learning paths within course parameters.
Examples across disciplines:
This value emphasizes that sharing is a big aspect of OP. Without the sharing of resources and materials, OP wouldn’t be “open.” You can share your lesson plans, articles, or learning materials with others to allow growth in your field. You can encourage your students to value sharing in their learning. Sharing can look like students working together on projects and resources, publishing their projects so people can access them for free, and using Creative Commons licenses to encourage others to legally reuse, remix, and redistribute the content.
In practice, this means: Encouraging students to see themselves as contributors to knowledge, not just consumers, and creating work that has value beyond earning a grade.
How it’s expressed: Student work reaches a public audience and potentially helps others learn or solve problems.
Examples across disciplines: