For me the question about the openness of education and knowledge is a question of equality and a promotion of a common good. Coming from Finland, I have internalized an equality as a strong value. I see that education belongs to everybody and it is a way to build better society.
In Finland, education has been free and available for everyone independent of family’s economic status. There are little differences between schools in Finland. People doesn’t need to consider which school to choose for their kids. Kids go to school that is closest to their home and people from different economical classes have been living relatively evenly in different areas.
Even university education is free and supported by the government. An idea about the education system that cost a lot of money for individuals and thus creates inequality between people feels freak and scary for me. It feels very sad to see Finland taking steps toward that direction, for example by introducing tuition fees for some international students and decreasing economic support for the students.
Considering my background, I cannot reflect the question of openness of education without thinking the values that are connected to the equal rights for everybody and a common good that can be achieved by educating people and sharing knowledge. Sharing knowledge openly feels effective and can help to fasten the development in different areas. Everybody doesn’t need to invent a wheel again, but learning can be seen as a cumulative processes.
Principles of openness, sharing and collaboration for common good happens naturally in small groups where people share the same goals and benefits of collaboration are easily visible. In bigger groups and societies other competing values and forces are often complicating things. There comes more competition between individuals and groups which can be seen as a counterforce for equality and collaboration. Nowadays knowledge and education are important resources that are competed about. Unfortunately, this competition is often run by money. Education is having a price tag and not all people can afford it which creates inequality in more and less direct ways.
Considering this global era that we live, including huge global problems and unforeseen challenges, education and an access to knowledge feels especially important. The crisis of Covid-19 has reminded us how we are all connected and how we need to find solutions together. Covid-19 has forced people all over the world to adjust their lives and forced people to make changes rapidly. One of these rapid changes is increased use of online environments, including teaching and learning environments. The familiarization with these technologies can have drastic changes in how we think and organize education. If more and more activities are taking place online, why would each school, university or a teacher produce their own materials, why should different teachers and institutions ‘invent a wheel again’, if there is an option to share materials and resources and benefit from each other’s work? It will be interesting to follow what will be the long term impact of Covid-19 to societies, including openness and collaboration in the field of education. Could this crises provoke new solutions for education that could allow more people to access knowledge and collaborate in an effective manner?
Good job! You certainly included everything in this post. I would like to read more by you. Do you run any more blogs?
You argue like me! Love it!