Open pedagogy is a teaching approach that incorporates student involvement in the development of course content through renewable assignments or the creation/adaptation of open educational resources (OER). This approach is built on the foundation of the open education community's shared values, including student agency, sharing, diversity and inclusion, peer learning, co-creation/collaboration, and active/experiential learning. While there is no consensus on a definition of open pedagogy, it generally refers to student participation in the development of course content. Open pedagogy may overlap with OER-enabled pedagogy and open educational practices.
The term "open pedagogy" has evolved over time, with some scholars labeling it as "undefinable." Initially defined by Wiley (2007), open pedagogy involves students and faculty taking advantage of the "5 Rs" of openly licensed content to expand learning opportunities in the classroom. Other researchers define open pedagogy as an approach that allows students to join the academic conversation on a topic by creating or adapting openly licensed course materials. This may involve creating assignments that are renewable, meaning they have utility beyond the classroom.
Open pedagogy is closely related to theoretical teaching approaches such as experiential learning, peer learning, and student-centered learning. It also has a connection to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Examples of open pedagogical practices can be found in the Open Pedagogy Notebook and Project Roadmap.
Because of the variation in the use of the term "open pedagogy," it is important to provide a broad and flexible definition. Open pedagogy involves involving students in the creation, adaptation, or dissemination of openly licensed content, with a focus on shared values such as global community engagement, sharing, diversity, inclusion, student agency, and experiential learning.
Open pedagogy assignments can create an environment for student-centered learning by allowing individual learners to shape their own learning experiences. Experiential learning occurs when students are involved in open pedagogical activities such as building an open textbook. Student agency is a core value of open pedagogy, and instructors must consider potential power differentials with students when designing course curriculum with open pedagogical projects. Students should not be coerced or mandated into identifying themselves in openly licensed materials or required to openly license their assignments for course credit or a grade.
In addition, the sharing and licensing of traditional knowledge related to Indigenous communities should be honored. When working on projects related to cultural or Indigenous topics, students should respect the autonomy and authority of said peoples and defer to their resources by seeing what has already been shared and cited.
Related terms include OER-enabled pedagogy, open educational practices, diversity, equity, and inclusion, experiential learning, student agency, and openly licensed content. Additional resources can be found in the references below.