A good teacher is so much more than a machine that churns out exam answers – and that’s why we need them now more than ever
‘Whereas good teachers challenge their pupils with difficult questions and wait for them to work through their reply, AI rushes in with the answer’
Anthony Seldon, Warning from AI is stark: we have two years to save learning, The Times, 2024
Commentary about the dangers of AI in education seems to be gaining traction in the media. Will AI replace teaching? If AI has all the answers, do we still need teachers?
The homework my students return indicates we need teachers more than ever. At times, pupils’ work will contain confused, verbatim regurgitations of text found online and grabbed in desperation, in a shortsighted attempt to get it done, rather than consolidate lesson content. Novice learners need to have a firm foundation of knowledge before they go hunting for answers.
Teachers lay firm foundations
Good teaching gives students the firm foundation of knowledge necessary for onward discovery learning. In classes around the country, skilled pedagogues are questioning pupils’ answers in skilled ways by asking for more information, or by engaging the rest of the class by asking if they agree with the answer just given.
Good teaching gives students the firm foundation of knowledge necessary for onward discovery learning. In classes around the country, skilled pedagogues are questioning pupils’ answers in skilled ways by asking for more information, or by engaging the rest of the class by asking if they agree with the answer just given (rsc.li/4iHjKUM).
Students are novice learners. Your role as a teacher is to instruct and develop students’ ability for subject-specific discovery learning. This happens through the building up of schema (connections made in the long-term memory) through exposure to knowledge from firm, logical foundations. We are all lazy learners. Teachers, like sports coaches, drive learning forward so students exceed what they would achieve alone.
A good teacher can be an inspiration, a mentor, a supporter, not just someone who gets a student to pass an exam
The magic happens in the classroom: debate, confusion, clarification and eureka moments, all within one lesson. The joy we see from hard-fought understanding can be slight or subtle – or abruptly announced to all. The suppressed smile of a pupil leaving the classroom after succeeding in class, or receiving positive feedback, is something you cannot get from the underwhelming circumvention of learning by using AI which, without knowledge, is at best guesswork.
Teachers invest in individuals
Teaching also covers building relationships with young people and establishing trust and respect. A good teacher can be an inspiration, a mentor, a supporter, not just someone who gets a student to pass an exam.
The education system places unfortunate emphasis on exam results which are used as proxies for learning. Focusing on rote learning of a stock set of exam question answers is a poor substitute for learning. However, past papers, in the hands of a skilled teacher, can exemplify, interrogate and deepen student knowledge. Assessment for learning strategies allow you as the teacher to change direction through feedback from formative assessments, to support students in the areas they need; something AI cannot do.
The education system places unfortunate emphasis on exam results which are used as proxies for learning. Focusing on rote learning of a stock set of exam question answers is a poor substitute for learning. However, past papers, in the hands of a skilled teacher, can exemplify, interrogate and deepen student knowledge (rsc.li/4bF46XG). Assessment for learning strategies allow you as the teacher to change direction through feedback from formative assessments, to support students in the areas they need; something AI cannot do.
An open-ended style of questioning highlights the difference between an exam candidate with rehearsed exam-specific answers and one who has understood the course content and has created a connected schema in their long-term memory. We see from course reports that a proportion of National 5 chemistry candidates each year do not attempt these open questions at all. In my experience, students’ dislike of open questions comes from uncertainty in the absence of a single, correct answer. AI will very quickly provide an answer, but at the expense of learning.
An open-ended style of questioning highlights the difference between an exam candidate with rehearsed exam-specific answers and one who has understood the course content and has created a connected schema in their long-term memory. We see from course reports that a proportion of National 5 chemistry candidates each year do not attempt these open questions at all (bit.ly/4huOBTr). In my experience, students’ dislike of open questions comes from uncertainty in the absence of a single, correct answer. AI will very quickly provide an answer, but at the expense of learning.
Teachers enable understanding
As a teacher, you are instrumental in developing students’ metacognition; learning to approach solving tasks they have not come across before is a key step in their metamorphosis from novice to an expert, independent learner. Teachers are able to identify individual students’ metacognitive awareness, and know how to motivate, prompt and support learning. Generally, pupils with poorer metacognitive abilities will overestimate their knowledge and ability and teacher feedback will be key to keep students learning.
What we know from the still-recent absences from school as a result of Covid-19 is that while the overall effects are complicated, the attainment gap has widened. Pupils from higher-educated families tended to mitigate the educational losses, while those without this familial environment typically lost out. It goes to show that the role of teachers is as vital as ever. A good teacher has expert pedagogical knowledge, good communication skills and inspires pupils to engage in the learning process. In the words of a 2021 report on the impact of school lockdown, ‘teachers matter’. In my own words, they are rock stars.
What we know from the still-recent absences from school as a result of Covid-19 is that while the overall effects are complicated, the attainment gap has widened. Pupils from higher-educated families tended to mitigate the educational losses, while those without this familial environment typically lost out. It goes to show that the role of teachers is as vital as ever. A good teacher has expert pedagogical knowledge, good communication skills and inspires pupils to engage in the learning process. In the words of a 2021 report on the impact of school lockdown, ‘teachers matter’ (bit.ly/4iwZjKs). In my own words, they are rock stars.
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