Call for Participation
The call for participation is now closed in order to allow time to receive contributions and create the finished quilt in time for OER20 in April. Thanks to all who signed up and if your contribution isn’t yet in the post, time is running out fast now!
Introduction
This is a warm and inclusive invitation to participate in the process of creating a Quilt of Care and Justice, that will be developed with the help of the Femedtech community and others over the next few months. The quilt will be completed and displayed at the OER20 Conference in April 2020. Our particular call here stands alongside the Call for Proposals for OER20 and yet is distinct from it. The quilt project is driven by the values we espouse and continue to develop at FemEdTech through our words and actions at http://femedtech.net, for example http://femedtech.net/about-femedtech/values/ and http://femedtech.net/category/published/values/ ; and at the Twitter hashtag #femedtech and account @femedtech. Our values are a good fit with the themes of the OER20, particularly aspects of care, criticality and sustainability.
We have also been guided by the Three Principles of Social Justice Applied to Open Education. Lambert (2018)’s framework highlights Redistributive Justice for people excluded for reasons of finance; Recognitive Justice for those who can’t recognise themselves in the resources; and Representational Justice for those whose voices are lacking in open discussion and whose contributions are absent from OERs.
We have our own goals and deadlines in creating a beautiful artefact whose components need to travel to one place if they are to become a quilt.
Our quilt project is not only a Feminist project, and an Open Education project but also a form of Activism in itself. Together we can create a quilt that can inspire during and after its creation; acknowledge all contributions and their history; and make a difference to Care and Justice in Education and Technology contexts. Most of the work will be done before OER20 and there is no need to be a delegate at the conference to participate.
Background
This is a project in three parts:
- The preparation and assembly of a quilt that links social justice and open education technology contexts and that will contribute to activism
- The creation of a digital archive of the elements, components and finished quilt that becomes a shareable artefact and repository in its own right
- The completion of the quilt at a workshop at OER20 and its display for the first time at the conference, in its material and digital forms.
How you can participate
You can participate by donating fabric or found objects, creating blocks, writing words and participating in an OER20 workshop (if accepted). This might seem like a project for experienced quilters (who are of course most welcome) but we welcome and offer support for your participation in a variety of ways.
For the quilt, we welcome donations of fabric, new or used; pieced or embellished fabric quilt squares; small, light found objects that can be fastened on to the quilt; and quotes or your own words that can be reused in the OER20 workshop. Making quilt squares is easier than you might think and does not have to involve sewing.
Timelines
| Contribution | Comment | Send | Deadline |
| Fabric | We’d love fabric donations – bigger pieces can be used for sashing, borders and backing. Fabric can be recycled from clothes. Many Open Education people are aficionados of the plaid shirt. So if you have an old cotton shirt that’s worn at the elbows, we can reuse the fabric from the body. | As soon as possible and arriving any time before deadline | 31 January 2020 |
| Quilt Squares | These could come from individuals or local groups that work together. They can be traditional pieced blocks or fabric embellished with collage/art work or digitally printed with a relevant image. Squares should measure 7 inch x 7 inch (will be finished size 6 inch x 6 inch when sewn in quilt), or 13 inch x 13 inch (will be finished size 12 inch x 12 inch when sewn in quilt) | Once completed and arriving before deadline | 31 January 2020 |
| Found objects | Small enough and light enough to stitch/ fasten onto quilt. These might be buttons, or anything that has meaning for you relevant to the subject of the quilt. | As soon as possible and arriving any time before deadline | 13 March 2020 |
| Words | These could be attributed quotes and/or your own words that appear in your own creations or be stitched/ ironed on to quilt by others at OER20 Workshop | Contribute your own words/ chosen quotes at http://quilt.femedtech.net | 13 March 2020 |
| Stories | We hope that each contribution will have its own story that you can tell us at our FemEdTech website. The stories will then be linked back to the digital artefact. | Contribute story at http://quilt.femedtech.net | At any time after your contribution is sent or included in the Quilt |
You can find more details and support resources for contributing to the Quilt for Care and Justice. Feel free to add suggestions and resources to the document Support and Resources for Creating/Donating contributions for Quilt of Care and Justice. You may find it good to work in a group and we will offer support for groups working on contributions.
If you intend to make a contribution, please give us a few details about the contribution and yourself by completing Intention to submit contribution to OER20 Quilt. Once you have informed us about your intended contribution, we will send you a postal address to which you can send your contribution for inclusion in the quilt by the specified deadline.
We will endeavour to be as flexible and helpful as possible so please get in touch with any questions you have.
Supporters
Frances Bell
Helen Beetham
Kate Bowles
Lorna M. Campbell
Catherine Cronin
Laura Czerniewycz
Maren Deepwell
Johanna Funk
Suzanne Hardy
Sarah Lambert
Sheila MacNeill
Anne-Marie Scott
Clare Thomson
Mia Zamora
Contact: Frances Bell @francesbell frabell@gmail.com with any inquiries not already covered here. Please include reference to Quilt of Care and Justice.
References
Lambert, S. R. (2018). Changing our (Dis)Course: A Distinctive Social Justice Aligned Definition of Open Education. Journal of Learning for Development, 5(3), 225–244. Retrieved from https://jl4d.org/index.php/ejl4d/article/view/290
