Toward, Toward a Teory for Open Education: Defending Open Education in the Midst of Accountability Pressures.

Overview & Synopsis

This article is an attempt to assist open education advocates in seriously defending their commitments to humanistic or open education. The first section defines the term "open education" and traces its background. The remainder of the article is an attempt to generate principles to guide and defend open education as a viable alternative. Several areas of philosophy are used as categories within which assumptions basic to open education are developed. Historical and philosophical roots of current writing on open education are explored. A number of conclusions are offered as part of a theory for open education. The concluding section is in the form of a dialogue further attempting to explain open education. An extensive bibliography is provided. (Author/MLF)