Drs. Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran, co-authors of “The Open System: Redesigning Education and Reigniting Democracy,” talk about co-creating and co-producing school initiatives with parents and community members. “Openness” is a radical departure from legacy closed systems, and begins with “openers,” those committed to ensuring that all stakeholders, especially those traditionally far from power, are full participants. The opening process can start in one classroom, one school, or one district, and can be adapted in other settings.
Overview
00:00-00:39 Intros
00:39-02:08 Definition of an Open System
02:08-09:02 3 phases of shifting a system towards openness
09:02-06:16 An open system leader
06:16-07:21 Linearity and recursion of phases
07:21-11:10 Examples of groups creating open systems
11:10-15:09 Obstacles groups encountered and overcame
15:09-18:44 Contending with organized groups that want to ban books or are racist or homophobic
18:44-21:59 Consensus decision making
21:59-24:57 Surviving founders or key initial participants
24:57-27:01 Conflicts over money or credit
27:01-29:20 Tensions and differential power between those furthest from opportunity and those with technical or institutional power
29:20-31:33 Issues of bringing initiatives to scale
31:33-33:39 Where can educators start?
33:39-36:48 Training and support
36:48- Outro
Transcript
Click here to see the full transcript of this episode.
References
Click here to know more about the book “The Open System: Redesigning Education and Reigniting Democracy”
Soundtrack by Poddington Bear
We speak with Dr. LaToya Baldwin Clark, assistant professor at UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how school boundaries are used for...
We speak with Dr. David Penberg and Adhirath Sethi about Agastya, a unique educational ecosystem serving students and teachers in 22 Indian states. Agastya...
Zahava Stadler, Policy Director of EdBuild, explains how housing discrimination and state funding policies disadvantage Black and low-income districts. EdBuild has reported on funding...
