In this 60-minute session, we will explore and interrogate our relationships to work as open practitioners.
Open education’s values-driven nature and justice-oriented goals make it both an appealing field and an area ripe for labor exploitation. With this in mind, how do we individually and collectively resist calls for overwork? How do we structure projects and maintenance efforts in realistic and rest-inclusive ways? How do we reckon with existing burnout and make efforts toward real healing?
We believe that the promise of a sustainable future in and for open education can only come from an honest and visible accounting of the laborers and labor at the field’s core. As open education continues to grow in both breadth and depth, it is crucial that we critically examine that growth and its alignment with our own individual and organizational well-being. We consider this session to be one step in an ongoing discussion around our priorities as open practitioners that individuals can continue in their workplaces.
About the presenters:
Natalie Hill is the Scholarly Communications Librarian at Colby College, where she is focused on expanding awareness of open access publishing and open educational resources.
Laura Tadena (she/her/Ella) is the Community Engagement Librarian at Austin Public Library, where she leads system-wide community engagement efforts, helps cultivate partnerships, and manages system impact projects designed to uplift the Austin area community.
