Opened Culture is a pioneering collaboratory and strategic consultancy dedicated to empowering educational institutions and communities. We stand as a beacon for change in the educational sector, offering a unique blend of strategic insight, practical support, and community engagement to revolutionize how education is delivered and experienced.

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11 May Leading Change: Strategies for Sustaining Open Culture—A Playbook for HBCU Educators and Allies

Posted on May 11, 2025 in Insights, Playbooks and Guides, Research by
PLAYBOOK

How can leaders sustain and scale openness within their institutions?

Effective and enduring open education requires leadership that integrates strategic vision, collaborative practices, and sustainable frameworks. This playbook introduces a structured method, guiding readers to aggregate allies, build bridges, create capabilities, develop demand, and enable ecosystems of openness. Readers will collaboratively engage with these strategies to outline institutional plans for embedding open education into their campus culture sustainably.
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About the Playbook

This guide provides educational leaders with a structured, strategic approach to embedding and sustaining openness within their institutions. Central to this playbook is the ABCDE Framework for Change, which emphasizes aggregating allies and assets, building bridges across campus, creating institutional capabilities, developing demand and enthusiasm for openness, and enabling a supportive ecosystem through policy and culture shifts. The playbook integrates culturally affirming leadership principles, including the spirit of Sankofa—encouraging leaders to draw from community traditions to innovate and advance our goals for the future. Through practical examples, planning tools, and collaborative strategies, this guide equips leaders to foster lasting, systemic openness, ensuring inclusive, innovative, and culturally resonant educational experiences.

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Using the Playbooks

This playbook is more than a guide. It’s a living resource, and you’re encouraged to shape it with your voice and experience.

As you read, consider engaging with comments that expand, question, or contextualize what you see here. Your insights help build a richer, more relevant resource for everyone in the open education community. Try any/all of the following ways to contribute using the comments feature:

  • Stories from your classrooms or campus, especially student stories that show how these ideas come to life.
  • Frameworks or strategies you’ve adapted or developed based on this content.
  • Case examples from your work, showing how you’re applying these concepts in practice.
  • Citations or resources that deepen the conversation or introduce related scholarship.
  • Affirmations or attestations—brief notes that validate what resonates, or flag what challenges your thinking.

Whether you’re trying out an idea for the first time or scaling a practice across your institution, your comments are part of the story we’re writing together. Let this be a space where theory meets action, and where community fuels change.
Explore the Playbook

About This Project

Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and in partnership with MERLOT and SkillsCommons, this project led by Tennessee State University brings together over 30 HBCUs into hubs that engage in professional development focused on open educational practices and culturally-affirming pedagogies. Addressing the critical need for accessible educational materials, the initiative empowers educators and students at HBCUs and other MSIs to enhance learning through open resources. By supporting these institutions in embedding and sustaining open practices, Opened Culture helps ensure that education is not only accessible but also culturally affirming and reflective of the diverse communities it serves.

Opened Culture

Opened Culture is a pioneering collaboratory and strategic consultancy dedicated to empowering educational institutions and communities. We stand as a beacon for change in the educational sector, offering a unique blend of strategic insight, practical support, and community engagement to revolutionize how education is delivered and experienced.

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