The Secwepemcstin term Kw’seltktnéws means that we are all related and interconnected with nature, each other, and all things. It guides Thompson Rivers University’s institutional vision statement and flows through all we do, including our approach to open education (OE). TRU has been growing and sustaining a culture of open on and off campus for over 40 years. This culture of open includes valuing inclusion, transformation, sharing, and connection.
The open education community at TRU seeks to be welcoming and inclusive, and open educational practice allows faculty to build inclusivity into their teaching practice. In this presentation, we outline the approach we have taken to build open into the culture of the institution and have created multiple ways for stakeholders to become involved.
Since 1978, OE champions at TRU have been creating opportunities for widening participation and creating multiple entry points to become involved in the open community. This has been done through persistent cultivation of a variety of opportunities including working groups, grants, developing a comprehensive inventory, communities of practice, special events, and advocating for OE language in promotion and tenure standards documents. These initiatives are synergistic, drawing from each other and supporting continuing growth, development, and partnerships.
Through this presentation, we will demonstrate how our interconnected framework encourages participation in open education. This ongoing and adaptive structure helps us to enact our vision in meeting the needs of diverse learners, to support faculty and staff to develop and further open education initiatives, and to include stakeholders from across campus and the community.
After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
- Discuss the concept of Kw’seltktnéws as it applies to your own institutional and local vision for open education - interconnectedness, transformation, and sharing
- Propose ideas for promoting use of open education at your institution
- Identify strategies to engage stakeholders at all levels of interest and participation in open education
