From Open Publication to Public Participation: Learning by Teaching and a Documented Online Exchange in December 2010

This historical case study reconstructs a public exchange about Learning by Teaching (Lernen durch Lehren, LdL) on Jean-Pol Martin’s blog in December 2010. Two former students responded to a post on participation in everyday life. Andreas Wurtinger recalled how a classroom discussion of Darfur led him and his classmates to start a social project. Christos Ioannidis connected classroom participation with democratic initiative and open access to knowledge. A contribution from the LdL mailing list brought mathematics teaching into the discussion and prompted further reflection on the conditions under which the approach works. The article’s original contribution is to trace how a freely accessible text became the starting point for former students and teachers to contribute experiences, interpretations, and criticism. Within the series, the case documents an early instance of collective inquiry and provides a historical link to the later treatment of thinking and participation in Martin’s New Human Rights framework.