Dreamweaving Open Educational Practices

The Open University of Sri Lanka
Dreams, Dreamers and Dreamweaving
Shironica Karunanayaka and Som Naidu 1
Introduction
As educators we are in the habit of weaving dreams. These include the dreams of
school teachers who are aspiring to become better teachers as well as the dreams
of teacher educators about building teacher capacity in relation to teaching and
supporting their students’ learning. The work captured in this book is about helping
dreamers realize their dreams and weaving these dreams into a coherent picture of
the impacts of the integration of open educational resources and the adoption of
open educational practices by teachers in the Sri Lankan school system.
Teachers as dreamers
Teachers often have dreams about their teaching and learning practices and how to
realize them. Most new teachers venture into the teaching profession with dreams
of becoming ‘good’ teachers and about bringing in new ideas, using new resources,
trying out new methods, and hoping to make a change in the lives of their learners.
But many of these dreams are vanished into thin air without teachers being able to
realize them.
This happens because of the many challenges faced by teachers in real life such
as limited access to resources and facilities, time constraints and lack of support
and appreciation by school administration for the work that they do. Hence,
over time, this enthusiasm gradually dwindles into frustration and diminished
motivation, leading teachers to merely shuffle along with existing prescriptive,
conventional thinking and teaching practices. This is a familiar story for teachers in
Sri Lankan schools.
When this is the case teachers are criticized for not being innovative, creative or
collaborative and being resistant to change. Rather than blaming teachers, further
de-motivating them and shattering their dreams of doing any better, it is best to
think about how to help them realize their dreams and become better teachers.
As teacher educators, our goal has been to build that kind of teacher capacity,
empowering them to achieve their dreams to become great teachers who can make
a difference to learners and their learning context.
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