Openness: All great stories happen at the crossroads

Crossroads : plural of cross·roads (Noun) •Noun: An intersection of two or more roads. •A point at which a crucial decision must be made that will have far-reaching consequences. •Synonyms: crossing - intersection - junction - crossroad (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

What could a few seemingly unrelated stories that happen at the crossroads have in common? I will attempt to weave them all together to relate to openness in education via an opening in society. ;xNLx;

0429 BC-01-01 00:00:00

Oedipus

Oedipus' story occurs at a time when Greeks sought truth and knowledge, and the protagonists searches for truth throughout the story. However, Oedipus's choices at the crossroads represent the burdensome dualities of the world that he inhabited. As, Eva Cybulska points out, "Oedipus... is a hero full of contradictions: intelligent and naive; at home yet homeless; proud, yet able to expose himself in front of those who admire him; guilty and innocent. He repeatedly comes to the crossroads within himself..." Torn and tragically living in a closed society, Oedipus is incapable of reading the signs around him. Truth is a phantom and ever elusive. How much of a contrast is this movement toward openness and multiplicity in education via openness in society. Imagine how his story would have been different had his parents been open about his birth/origin. Openness in education via openness in society in part entails being able to openly dialogue about one's origin, struggles with leadership experience or even collaborate with others to solve problems.

1936-01-01 00:00:00

Robert Johnson

This powerful blues song tells of Johnson's attempt to hitch a ride home at the crossroads after dark. It was written at a time when African-Americans in the South feared being lynched especially after dark when returning home from an unfamiliar place. The society that Johnson lived in also embraced many unjust dualities regarding race, culture, and intelligence. The meaning of this song was later embellished and has it that Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads in exchange for mastery of the blues. Openness in education challenges economic, racial and educational stratification in society that existed during the time that Johnson lived some of which continue on today. Open education is education in which mastery can be legendary but attained via powerful collaboration and communication at the crossroads. Open education makes possible a world in which thousands of strangers of different races and nationalities learn together. Open education is taking a song writing class online to help one master the blues

2013-03-18 19:09:03

Open education at the crossroads

The crossroads that we are facing in education today are quite different from those that Oedipus and Robert Johnson faced. Today we have something which appears in fact more like intersections with multiple junctures. And as Ronald S. Burt points out, "People who live at the intersection of social worlds are at higher risk of having good ideas." Open education and open scholarship invite a blurring of the boundaries between the academic and the personal, between the home and the workplace, between the formal and the informal as well as various other dualities that humans have traditionally embraced in society. Open education is holistic and allows us to "set up camp", communicate, collaborate and create at the intersections of the various components of our lives. It allows us to be more authentic and whole, and this is where we do our best work!

Openness: All great stories happen at the crossroads

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