BCLA proposal - Bcoelsteering

31 Oct 2017

      What do you think of this draft proposal for the BCLA conference?

...
 From Open Educational Practices to Social Justice:
Making the Leap 
Open Education is about more than opening resources, it is also about opening pedagogy but
what does that mean? What does open education have to do with social justice? Do we
believe that education is about leveling the playing field, and at its best addresses
issues of injustice, privilege and exclusion? Are open education practices, at their core,
about access, equity, innovation and creativity? If so, how is the open education movement
embodying those values?

Join a panel to discuss the broad impact of open educational practices. How are these
practices living up to their potential, and how are they failing to do so? Can open
education help provide a more equitable future where a multitude of diverse voices are
heard and respected? Librarians are key contributors in the open education movement as an
extension of their historical roles to provide safe places of learning that are open and
available to all, or is that traditional role a myth? Let's discuss.

Inspiring this approach was the Thursday open access event Tension and Risk in Open
Scholarship, and Amanda's reflections on the Open Education Conference:
https://bccampus.ca/2017/10/18/reflections-on-open-ed-2017-amanda-coolidge/  Thanks
Amanda!

Here is the call for proposals:
The 2018 BC Library Conference theme is Work +Culture. This theme urges an examination of
the connections between work environments, institutional cultures, and communities; an
inquiry of how cultures can impact, clash, and complement each other and inform society as
a whole.

Collaboration, inclusion, innovation - we include these words in job descriptions and
library values and mission statements, but how well do we practice these values? Do our
organizational structures and cultures foster or hinder these goals?  How do we -- as
individuals, institutions, and organizations -- determine and define our culture and our
values? And how does our culture affect our work and profession?

Are our values changing and if so what are they becoming? How do changes in our values and
culture affect the concept of "library" and the work that we perform?

Understanding the culture of our institutions helps us understand the role of the library
in our rapidly changing society and helps us understand the impact of our work.

Our hope is that the theme Work + Culture will inspire you to submit a session proposal
that illustrates how libraries and library workers define their values in their every day
work; proposals that challenge some of our existing assumptions about libraries and
postulate new ways to engage in our culture;  proposals that examine our institutional
assumptions and behaviour and ask how we can enhance our culture and our work; proposals
that demonstrate new ways that libraries and library workers lead and support advocacy and
proposals that help us define and redefine our work and our institutions.

Lin Brander| Librarian, Electronics & Computer Systems; Open Education|British
Columbia Institute of Technology  T 604-432-8922<tel:604-432-8922>| E
lbrander@bcit.ca<mailto:lbrander@bcit.ca>| W
bcit.ca/library<http://www.bcit.ca/library/>