Special Collection Open Education and Social Justice | Journal of Interactive Media in Education

This special issue theorises and focuses on the intersection of open education and social justice. As part of the relatively recent critical turn in educational technology, the papers consider how open education fares when analysed through social justice lenses. While open education has traditionally been about increasing access, it has become clear that removing barriers is complex and that “participatory parity” as the aim of socially just education needs a nuanced examination. Hence, under the umbrella of the concept of social justice, a variety of cases are presented drawing on and exploring theoretical frameworks which illuminate the ways that open education can be understood. Nancy Fraser’s conceptualisation forms the foundation of many of the papers, in different contexts, while other scholarly approaches prove helpful too. What is shared, despite the variety of methods and sites, are shared questions regarding whose interests are being served in open education, for what ends, and how power relations are being enacted.

Guest Editors: Sarah Lambert and Laura Czerniewicz