Embedded, Catalytic, Urgent, Embodied – Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Openness in Education Testimonials

This short paper presents an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of the testimonials given by open education practitioners in a recent publication ‘Openness in Education as a Praxis: From Individual Testimonials to Collective Voices’, collected and presented in the spirit of testimonios which is simultaneously individual and collective. The IPA was carried out as a sensemaking exercise in response to a prompt in the conclusion of the paper which extended an open invitation to readers of the collected testimonials. The analysis generated four distinct but entangled Group Experiential Themes (GETs) of Openness in Education as (i) embedded in an evolving ‘big picture’ of education; (ii) as a catalyst for positive change; (iii) as an urgent safeguard of a global need; (iv) as embodiment and enactment of the ethos of practitioners both as individuals and as a collective. The first three themes encompass aspects of the visible past, present, and possible future of openness in education, as reflected in the light of the less tangible but most compelling fourth theme, the openness in educators. Discussion on these GETs – that Openness in Education is viewed as embedded, catalytic, urgent, and embodied – concludes them to be four potentia in the phenomenon of Openness in Education that will influence and empower it into the future.