opened-identity skill

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name: opened-identity
description: Understand OpenEd's identity, values, and strategic narrative. This skill guides content creation aligned with Open Education philosophy, messaging framework, and audience understanding. Essential context for all OpenEd communication and content strategy.
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# OpenEd Identity & Strategic Narrative

## Purpose

This skill provides comprehensive understanding of OpenEd's identity, core values, strategic narrative, and audience. Use this skill to align content with Open Education philosophy, understand Sarah (our One True Fan), and ensure messaging supports educational freedom principles.

**Core mission:** OpenEd helps families break free from standardized education by providing tools, community, and confidence to create personalized learning journeys that celebrate each child's uniqueness.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:
- Creating content that needs to align with OpenEd values and philosophy
- Understanding the Open Education movement and context
- Developing messaging that resonates with our target audience (Sarah)
- Making strategic decisions about content direction
- Ensuring brand narrative consistency across all platforms
- Writing podcast scripts, newsletters, social content, or educational materials

**For visual brand specifications (colors, typography, design), see the `brand-guidelines` skill.**

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## The Core Paradigm Shift: Open Education

### What Is Open Education?

Open Education is a fundamental mindset shift from a system designed to *process* students to one designed to *empower* them.

**The Key Insight:** Rather than forcing families to choose between pre-defined educational approaches, Open Education allows learners to take what works from any of them and adapt it to their unique needs.

### Why Now?

Technology has transformed virtually every aspect of our lives. We have unprecedented personalization, flexibility, and access in entertainment, work, and communication. Yet education remains stuck in an industrial-era model designed for a world that no longer exists.

**The disconnect:** We are preparing students for a future of AI, robotics, and decentralized work using a system designed before the invention of the lightbulb.

### The Great Education Unbundling

Post-COVID, millions of parents got a front-row seat to their children's education and saw the system's inflexibility firsthand. This accelerated a powerful, organic movement: **The Great Education Unbundling.**

Three unstoppable forces are driving this:
1. **Rise of School Choice** - Expanding options beyond the neighborhood school
2. **Disruption of Higher Education** - Alternatives to traditional degree paths
3. **Empowerment of Technology** - Democratized access to world-class knowledge

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## Core Values & Principles

### What We Stand For

- **Parents are the best designers of their children's education**
- Education should adapt to the child, not vice versa
- Learning is natural and should remain joyful
- True education prepares children for real life, not just tests
- Educational freedom is a fundamental right

### What We Stand Against

- The "sit still and listen" model of industrial education
- The standardization of childhood
- The credentialism trap
- The expertise monopoly that disempowers parents
- Educational inequality through rigid structures

### The Three Core Principles of Open Education

#### 1. Students Are Not Standard
Reject the myth of the "average" student. Every child is unique. The goal is not to eliminate differences, but to celebrate and build upon them.

#### 2. Mastery Over Measurement
True learning is a process of iteration, feedback, and growth—not a one-time performance on a standardized test. Shift from pass/fail mentality to "Mastered" or "Not Yet."

#### 3. Agency and Curiosity at the Center
The most profound learning happens when driven by the learner. Open Education gives children voice and choice, trusting them to follow curiosity and develop self-direction.

### How We Work (Team Culture)

These aren't slogans - they're how we actually operate:

- **"I did" over "we should"** - Bias toward shipping real work over strategizing about it. A published draft beats a perfect plan.
- **Customer first, always** - Sarah's fears and dreams drive every piece of content. When in doubt, ask "does this help Sarah?"
- **Ask questions, but try first** - Self-directed people thrive here. Explore before escalating.
- **Ship, then polish** - Done is better than perfect. Get it out, then iterate.

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## Our Audience: Sarah (The One True Fan)

### Who She Is

Sarah is a stay-at-home mom in her mid-30s to mid-40s, living in a suburban area of a state like Utah or Oregon. She leans conservative, possibly LDS or Christian, with a bit of that "crunchy" sensibility - she cares about natural living, whole foods, being intentional about how her family spends their time.

She has 2-3 kids, and at least one has unique learning needs - maybe ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety, or a kid who doesn't fit the traditional classroom mold. She's been a stay-at-home mom for years. She's not a former corporate professional; she's someone who's been in the home, raising her kids, and now taking on educational responsibility without formal teaching training.

### Her Current Situation

Sarah is either already homeschooling or seriously considering it. If she's already homeschooling, she's looking for support, community, curriculum guidance, or funding she didn't know existed. If she's on the fence, she's frustrated with her kid's school experience and curious about homeschooling but intimidated by the idea of doing it all herself.

She's not an expert teacher. She's a mom trying to match the best resources to her kids' needs. She turns to Facebook groups, Google searches, and curriculum reviews - but wants social proof from people she trusts, not strangers on the internet.

The paradox: she has access to more resources than any generation of homeschoolers ever, but that abundance creates paralysis.

### The Tension She Lives With

Sarah holds two things at once:

On one side: a beautiful vision of what homeschooling could be - kids learning at their own pace, curiosity-driven education, family closeness, the Instagram version of homeschooling.

On the other side: the messy reality - a kid who won't sit still, another who's behind in reading, days that fall apart by 10am.

She's torn between the idealized view and the actual challenges of her actual kids.

### What Keeps Her Up at Night

- Am I screwing up my kids' socialization?
- Will my kids be prepared for the future?
- Am I giving them the best education possible?
- What if my limitations as a non-teacher are holding my kids back?

(She might also wonder what people think, but this is fading as homeschooling becomes higher status - she might even feel proud of going against the grain.)

### What She Actually Needs

Practical: Curriculum that fits her specific kids, funding, teacher support, community, confidence she's on the right track.

Emotional: Permission to mix and match approaches without guilt, validation that she knows her kids better than any system, relief from the pressure to be everything.

### The Transformation We Offer

From: Overwhelmed mom drowning in curriculum options, unsure if she's qualified, worried she's failing her kids, isolated in her homeschool journey

To: Confident educational designer who knows her kids, has the resources and support she needs, belongs to a community of like-minded families, and sees her children thriving

For the complete Sarah persona with detailed guidance on writing to her, see `references/sarah-persona.md`.

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## The OpenEd Promise & Pathway

### Our Promise

We help families break free from standardized education by providing the tools, community, and confidence to create personalized learning journeys that celebrate their child's uniqueness.

### The OpenEd Pathway (5 Phases)

1. **Discover** - Understand your child's unique needs and learning style
2. **Design** - Build a customized educational approach
3. **Fund** - Access financial support for resources
4. **Connect** - Join a community of like-minded families
5. **Thrive** - Receive ongoing guidance as your child grows

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## Key Messaging Anchors

When writing ANY OpenEd content, anchor to one of these core messages:

- **"Your child's uniqueness isn't a problem. It's the point."**
- "From overwhelmed parent to confident designer of your child's education"
- "Educational freedom means choosing what works, not what's forced"
- "Learning is natural. The system broke it. You can fix it."
- "Your family's education should look like your family"
- "Real education prepares your child for life, not just tests"
- "You know your child better than any system ever could"

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## Reference Materials

For comprehensive details, in-depth framework analysis, and strategic narrative background, see:

### Identity & Strategy
- `references/identity-framework.md` - Complete OpenEd Identity Framework with core competencies and vision
- `references/strategic-narrative.md` - The strategic narrative explaining the education paradigm shift
- `references/mix-and-match-narrative.md` - How Open Education allows families to create customized educational experiences

### Messaging & Audience
- `references/sarah-persona.md` - Complete Sarah persona with daily reality, fears, transformation, and writing guidance
- `references/audience-profile.md` - Additional audience profile details
- `references/daily-messaging-guide.md` - Daily messaging variations and content angles

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## Integration with Other Skills

**Related Skills:**
- `ghostwriter` - Write OpenEd content using this identity framework
- `brand-guidelines` - Apply visual brand specifications
- `podcast-production` - Create podcast assets aligned with OpenEd identity
- `social-content-creation` - Create social content reflecting these values

**Workflow:**
1. Start with this skill to understand OpenEd identity and values
2. Reference detailed frameworks in the references folder as needed
3. Use `ghostwriter` skill to convert content with OpenEd perspective
4. Apply `brand-guidelines` for visual consistency
5. Execute using `podcast-production` or `social-content-creation` as needed

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## Quick Identity Checklist

Before publishing any OpenEd content:

- [ ] Is this aligned with our core values of educational freedom?
- [ ] Does this speak to Sarah's dreams or address her pains?
- [ ] Does this position parents as confident decision-makers?
- [ ] Does this celebrate personalization and uniqueness?
- [ ] Does this avoid positioning any single approach as "the answer"?
- [ ] Is this conversational and empowering (not preachy)?
- [ ] Does this reinforce that families can mix and match approaches?
- [ ] Does this acknowledge the challenge while offering hope?

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## Version History

- **v1.0** (2025-11-06): Initial skill creation
  - Core identity and values framework
  - Strategic narrative summary
  - Sarah audience profile
  - Messaging anchors and integration guidance
  - References to comprehensive detailed frameworks

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*This skill provides high-level identity guidance. For detailed frameworks, strategic analysis, and messaging variations, see the references folder. Use this skill as your context foundation, then reference detailed materials as needed.*