Open Education for Civil Engagement and Democracy

Open education has a key role to play in potentiating social inclusion. As noted by the European Commission for education in general (but is particularly relevant for open education) it helps to establish common values key to such inclusion: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, respect for human rights, the rights of minorities. However, as also noted, it can be seen in most member states that there are challenges to such inclusion, namely: populism, xenophobia, divisive nationalism, discrimination, misinformation, and radicalization (that can lead to violent extremism).

In order to counter these problems, the promotion of citizenship education has been pursued over a period of years. However, the open educational content and practices necessary to teach the different paradigms of active citizenship are arguably still difficult to find. The need to respect cultural diversity is important in the educational process since there isn’t just one “model citizen”. We need, therefore, to teach and support students, especially the younger generations, to appreciate the importance of active citizenship and achieve their participative role in society as a whole. In this webinar different aspects and examples of the role of open educational resources and practices for citizenship education will be considered and how they can be potentiated in the future.