---
id: "concept-stateful-learning-skills"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["00:07:07", "00:16:30"]
tags: ["education", "custom-agents"]
related: ["concept-zone-of-proximal-development", "entity-matt-pocock-skills", "entity-claude-code"]
definition: "AI agent skills that retain memory of a user's progress and context across a learning session by persisting state to the local file system."
---
# Stateful AI Learning Skills

## The `teach` skill

Leveraging his decade of experience as a teacher (and prior career as a vocal coach), [[entity-matt-pocock|Pocock]] built a `teach` skill for AI agents that operates **statefully**. Unlike standard chat interactions that lose context or require constant re-prompting, the skill writes its memory to the local file system.

## State on disk

When invoked, the skill creates artifacts like:

- `MISSION.md` — the overarching goal of the learning session.
- A **learning record** tracking concepts attempted, struggled with, and mastered.
- HTML-based **cheat sheets** generated for the user.
- **Quizzes** stored alongside results.

Because this state lives in the user's workspace (not in the LLM's ephemeral context), the user can leave, come back days later, and the agent resumes exactly where they left off.

## Pedagogical foundation

When the `teach` skill is invoked, the agent first assesses the user's [[concept-zone-of-proximal-development|Zone of Proximal Development]] — what they currently know vs. what they are ready to learn next. It then generates personalized, interactive curriculum tailored to that ZPD.

This aligns with established learning science:

- **Vygotsky's ZPD** — formal target of the assessment step.
- **Mastery learning** — proceeding only when concepts are demonstrated.
- **Formative assessment** — quizzes that inform next steps, not just grade.
- **Spaced repetition** — implicit in revisiting struggled concepts.

## Where it lives

The `teach` skill is part of the [[entity-matt-pocock-skills]] repository and is typically loaded into [[entity-claude-code]].

## Evidence status

Directly consistent with educational theory. No published controlled study yet compares this specific implementation to stateless LLM chat tutoring.