Developing Your OER
7.3 Ready, Set, Take a Step Back
Theresa Huff
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to
- Identify the purpose of inclusive revision in OER development.
- Distinguish between macro-level and micro-level revision in ensuring DEIA integration.
- Recognize strategies for structuring and organizing an OER draft to improve readability and accessibility.
- Differentiate between revision, editing, and proofreading in the OER development process.
Revision means literally “to see again.” It’s not easy to see clearly something that you’re really close to. To make meaningful changes and improvements to what is on the page, authors need to step back to look at the text through the eyes of the student reader. This step back is necessary for you to get clarity on the work. In the long run, it will help your team move forward more effectively and inclusively. When working under a deadline, you might not always have the advantage of a lot of time away from a manuscript to see it with fresh eyes. But you can cultivate a revising mindset by using the strategies and approaches described in this chapter.
“Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly.”
– Anne Lamott, Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life
A Revising Mindset
Two distinct purposes govern the writing and revising mindsets. When you write, your primary goal is to get the words down on the page. When you revise, your goal is to fix the words up for the reader. The reader’s experience should guide all changes you make at this stage.
Inclusive revision isn’t just about eliminating exclusionary language; it’s about critically evaluating how your text centers diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism (DEIA). As discussed in Finding Your Lens: Language, Theory, and Equity, the words we choose are deeply tied to power, representation, and historical systems of oppression. Revising through an equity lens requires deliberate effort to move beyond surface-level inclusivity and engage in meaningful structural revisions that shift power dynamics in OER.
A social justice–oriented textbook does more than feature diverse perspectives; it challenges traditional narratives that have marginalized certain voices. As Sarah Lambert argues, OER revision should aim for representational justice, where historically underrepresented communities are not merely included but are also empowered to tell their own stories. This means ensuring that your materials not only acknowledge diverse identities but also center the lived experiences and expertise of those most impacted by systemic inequalities.
Inclusive revision is an ongoing, reflective practice. It requires questioning who holds power in the text, whose voices are centered, and whose perspectives may still be missing. By revising with an intentional focus on recognitive and representational justice, we move beyond traditional academic discourse and create OER that truly serves all learners.
Macro- vs. Micro-Level Revisions
As you reviewed OER in year 1 and designed your OER in the first part of year 2, you approached integrating DEIA at a macro-level. In the development phase, particularly with revising your draft, you’ll approach DEIA from a micro-level. In the table below, you’ll notice that the same topics appear in macro-level and micro-level revision categories with a slightly different focus. Each of the bullets represents examples of how you can focus your revision on macro-level or micro-level issues.
Macro-Level Revision |
Micro-Level Revision |
DEIA focus
|
DEIA focus
|
Content
|
Content
|
Organization
|
Organization
|
Structure
|
Structure
|
Audience
|
Audience
|
What Revision Is and Is Not
Revision is all about learning to see the possibilities for change. This step involves letting go of the authoring role and embracing the fact that the chapter is not yet complete. The box below describes some of the essential tasks for inclusive revision.
Strategies for Inclusive Revision
- Clarify and focus the content to ensure it serves the intended purpose
- Ensure that every element—learning objectives, text, multimedia, and assessments—supports the book’s intended educational goals while remaining inclusive and accessible to all learners. Consider whether the framing of your content fosters engagement without reinforcing exclusionary perspectives.
-
Assess visual representation with an inclusion lens
- Review images to ensure they represent diverse skin tones, gender expressions, and abilities.
- Avoid tokenism and stereotypes—strive to depict people in their everyday lived experiences rather than reinforcing narrow or biased portrayals.
- Consider accessibility and disability justice image repositories when selecting or creating images, ensuring that visual content does not exclude or misrepresent disabled individuals.
- Utilize openly licensed image collections that prioritize intersectional and diverse representation.
- Diversify the sources or scholars that support the instructional content
- Academic publishing has traditionally privileged white, male, and institutional voices. As an OER author, you have the opportunity to intentionally cite scholars from underrepresented backgrounds, activists, and community advocates. A source does not have to be labeled “academic” to provide valuable insights—recognitive and representational justice call for a shift in whose voices are amplified.
-
Ensure accurate and inclusive language
- Use individuals correct pronouns, including the gender-neutral singular they/them/theirs when necessary.
- When crafting examples, include diverse names that reflect different national origins, ethnicities, and gender identities.
- Avoid outdated or exclusionary terminology and opt for language that affirms identity and experience.
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Refine tone, style, and voice for engagement and inclusion
- Adjust the tone and approachability of your text to enhance readability and inclusivity.
- Consider using first-person narration or conversational language where appropriate to make the content more engaging and relatable.
- Be mindful of how different rhetorical choices may privilege certain readers while alienating others.
- Address feedback from peer reviewers, instructors, and students
- Partner with subject matter experts, educators, and community representatives from diverse backgrounds to identify bias, enhance inclusivity, and improve representation. This collaboration can also serve as an opportunity to foster new relationships and develop your OER as a shared space for knowledge co-creation.
Because revision encompasses many activities, it can help to define it by what it is not. Revision does not fix:
- grammar
- spelling
- punctuation
- capitalization
- formatting
- layout
Revision is not editing. Revision is not proofreading. These are distinct phases of the textbook production process that will take place later. If you come across a typo or a factual error, by all means, fix it! Just remember that fixing mistakes isn’t revising.
This quick interactive quiz will help reinforce what you’ve learned about inclusive revision, structuring content, and distinguishing revision from editing and proofreading.
Textbooks have historically legitimized certain kinds of knowledge while marginalizing others. You have an opportunity to challenge this history and create a more inclusive and equitable learning resource. In the next chapter, we’ll dive deeper into specific strategies and examples to help you refine your OER draft with these principles in mind.
References
Lamott, A. (1995). Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. Vintage.
Licenses and Attributions
“Ready, Set, Take a Step Back” by Theresa Huff is adapted from “The Work: Revising for Inclusion” and “What Revision Is and Is Not” by Stephanie Lenox and Abbey Gaterud for Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed CC BY 4.0.l “Revising for Inclusion” is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.
