Diverse Philosophies, Common Challenges

Besides the general disorientation I sensed when speaking to schools over the Christmas break, there was one other thing I noticed: the diversity in how they’re approaching AI in Education. It’s not simply a matter of different technological capabilities or resources, but different philosophical (and pedagogical) stances on it.

One school has embraced AI with enthusiasm, viewing it as an inevitable and potentially transformative force in education. Their approach is proactive and exploratory, with teachers experimenting with various applications and the leadership team actively developing policies and training workshops. Underlying this is a sense that AI is going to ‘disrupt’ the job market and the school needs to prepare students to enter the job market of tomorrow – a position I am slightly uncomfortable with. With this in mind the school uses off-the-shelf Generative AI (LLMs and Image Generators) as this is what the students will encounter once they leave school. However, these systems are not designed with education in mind, and can have undesired side-effects.

The other two schools felt as though they were lagging behind – or being left behind by technology. Their concerns weren’t merely practical. They tended to have a more apprehensive position, mostly founded on feeling as though they do not have the time they need to properly reflect on the integration of AI in Education, and continue with their day-to-day teaching. They voiced concerns about loosing skills like sustained attention, critical thinking, and the human relationships at the heart of their educational philosophy.

I think this adds a level of complexity with what I’m hoping to develop. Whatever framework I begin to develop has to be able to relate with different current positions of the schools in our network, and help them deepen the educational experience for the students. This means that the framework needs to also be flexible and able to accompany the schools from their current positions. I can’t just think of what might seem as a ‘solution’. I’m wondering how much of my time and effort I should dedicate to creating frameworks that help schools articulate their own positions more clearly, identify their unique needs and concerns, and develop approaches to AI that emerge organically from their educational philosophy rather than being imposed from outside. This would facilitate their agency, but at the same time my sense is that many schools are almost ‘overwhelmed’ and if I develop some framework that requires significant input form the schools, they might prefer to reach for ‘off-the-shelf’ AI ‘solutions’.