https://open-learning.global/about-olc/
We believe that learning flourishes within a supportive and collaborative community, where meaningful experiences are cultivated. We value the unique contributions of every individual within our community, recognizing that collective ownership and engagement drive progress towards a peaceful and thriving society. We view learning as a shared endeavor between educators and learners. We empower educators by providing them with the necessary tools and resources to guide learners in acquiring essential skills and knowledge for a fulfilling life. Our philosophy centers around caring, with a commitment to personal ownership over collective well-being. We foster an environment of kindness, inclusivity, and accessibility, ensuring that everyone has a meaningful role to play in our endeavors. Transparency and responsible decision-making shape our actions, allowing all stakeholders to participate in shaping our initiatives. We aim to empower individuals to make positive contributions to their communities and promote lifelong learning and personal growth. The Open Learning Collective is dedicated to creating a vibrant educational landscape where learners and educators thrive and collectively contribute to a better future.
The Open Learning Collective cannot fulfill its purpose if community isn't at the center of its work and a core value. Learning doesn't happen in isolation. We believe community care and belonging are central to meaningful learning and truly transformative education. Part of how we value community in education is by honoring teachers, and facilitating child & youth safety and engagement.
<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Respect and empower educators — our core audience are teachers and learners in their many forms. We respect educators and take care to understand their realities and support their work.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Child and Youth Safety & Engagement — a large majority of learners in the world are considered to be vulnerable and protected. It takes a great deal of care to create positive and safe learning experiences, resources and communities for this population and it’s our duty to take every measure possible to ensure their safety and allow their engagement.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Local relevance — all of our initiatives must be relevant to local contexts and reflect people’s lived experiences. Every community has unique challenges, strengths, and aspirations. If we are creating a product, resource, activity, or program, we must foster collective ownership, facilitate translation and adaptation, and promote culturally relevant learning experiences that resonate deeply with learners.
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Contribution is at the core of how Open movements work. We are communities that strongly embody the 21st century skill's four c's: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity. As such, we must hold at our core, values that foster and facilitate contribution. To that end, the Open Learning Collective works to ensure that:
<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Everyone contributes — everyone who is involved with OLC is expected to contribute in some way, whether that is through time, money, resources, community care, or others. We can only make progress toward a society that is peaceful, nourished, and thriving through collective ownership and contribution.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Transformational leadership & meaningful learning outcomes — we take actions that result in meaningful learning outcomes that give educators tools and resources to help their learners gain skills and knowledge that lead to nourished, thriving lives and communities. We work within and without systems to achieve this purpose, but even within systems we do not perpetuate a status quo, but work to change systems that perpetuate imbalanced systems of power and privilege.
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We believe that centering caring at the core of our work is the only way to fulfill our purpose. Caring means taking personal ownership over collective well-being. It means being kind rather than being "nice." It means sharing work at the start to get input, feedback, and help from others. It means we take care that our work is accessible, meaningful, and inclusive. Some principles that guide this core value are:
<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Inherent worthiness — every single human is inherently worthy of belonging in our community. Everyone has something they can contribute whether great or small. Every contribution is meaningful, and we take every action possible to ensure that anyone who wants to contribute can in a way that makes sense for them. Those who have historically had fewer opportunities to participate and contribute will be uplifted and prioritized in our community.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Clarity & Transparency — all decisions are made transparently with input from all of those who would be affected whether it be what new project to take on, what location to use for an event, or how to affect a major change within the organization.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" alt="/icons/circle-alternate_green.svg" width="40px" /> Responsible resourcing — ****we take action when we have all the resources needed to do so. If we find we are short necessary resources, we pause and take the necessary actions to get the resources we need before moving forward. We do not take actions if we are not fully resourced, we don’t expect any individual to contribute beyond their means to make up for a lack of structural and systemic support.
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*This page is part of OLC’s internal documentation currently hosted on Notion.