Tracing the Philosophical and Theoretical Origins of Openness in Education

This research paper undertook the task of exploring and analysing the concept of openness in education through the lens of Philosophy of Education, Sociology of Education, the Frankfurt School, and Critical Pedagogy. A literature review was conducted, exploiting both recent and earlier peer-reviewed and topic-related papers on openness. In addition, original texts and books by the theorists of the above-mentioned schools, fields and movements were studied and utilised, also conducting additional analyses of them. Openness in education emerged as a term in the 20th century with the establishment of the Open University and has no clear definition. While commonly categorised as philosophy, culture, and policy, the supporting research for these labels is not entirely concrete. Nevertheless, an examination of these fields reveals a strong connection to the concept of openness, both in theory and in practical implementation. More specifically, the major findings showed that openness as a philosophy can be based on the ideas of Liberalism, as a culture can be related to Bourdieu's habitus and Habermas' lifeworld, while as a policy and practice it can be related to Pedagogy of Liberation. Overall, openness appears to be connected to and a logical progression of the aforementioned theories, suggesting that it could effectively tackle educational obstacles in the modern era. Establishing the theoretical and philosophical background of openness in education can lay the foundation for its definition and practical adoption by educational systems.