Enhancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) in Open Educational Resources (OER) - Australian Edition

Content advertised as “open access” and “freely accessible”
may give the impression that open educational resources
(OER) are universally accessible, but many users still face
inequitable barriers to access. Additionally, access doesn’t
equal inclusion. Textbooks often express sexism and racism
contents and exclude marginalised voices. We need to consider
how to contribute to a transformation and expand open
access to resources to truly address diversity, equity, and
inclusion. Dr Sarah Lambert (2018) provides a framework for
this transition. Lambert (2018) identifies and expands on
three principles of social justice that may be applied to OER:
redistributive justice, recognitive justice, and representational
justices. Lambert notes that providing free textbooks to
learners of colour is redistributive justice in action. It reduces
the costs and increases the chances of success for learners who
“by circumstance have less” (Lambert, 2018, p.227)—i.e.,
they are marginalised in education, workplaces and more
broadly in society.
In her article, Lambert (2018) asks how “open” the
textbook is for marginalised learners if First Nations students,
and learners of colour are invisible inside the textbook and
perhaps invisible in the whole curriculum. She notes that
making edits to include images and cases featuring more
diverse communities, businesses, and people will be an act of
recognitive justice.

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