We don’t need a teaching revolution to navigate the AI revolution – insights from Penrhos College

Penrhos College Director of Future Learning, Will Horwood, and Digital Literacy Specialist, Courtney Weaver, have been bracing for AI-driven disruption in the classroom - but as they explain ahead of the AI in Education WA Conference, the technology’s impact on teaching might not be as radical as some think.

When Will and Courtney sat down to discuss potential AI policies at their school, they came to a different realisation. Rather than requiring education to start again, AI was reinforcing the importance of capabilities that were already embedded in the curriculum.

“When we talk about this concept of AI literacy, it really struck me that most of those skills we are telling people to cultivate aren't new [...],” Will said.

“For example, people talk about the need for information literacy, but evaluating whether a source is trustworthy is something we have been teaching students since the dawn of time. So is ensuring we are safe about what we share online, aka digital literacy.”

Ethics and critical thinking – two other crucial AI literacy skills - are also part of the curriculum, falling under general capabilities, Courtney argues.

“AI raises ethical questions around intellectual property, the environment and sustainability, areas we already cover extensively in our teaching,” she said.

“Likewise, making sure we use AI in the appropriate contexts falls into information literacy – knowing when we can trust AI and when we can’t.”

Reinforcing an existing trend

Will points out that many of these skills have been recognised as crucial since the movement towards 21st century learning design, when the shift towards a skills-based education began.

With the advent of the internet, educators grew concerned about students using it to cut and paste internet-based research.

“We realised then the importance of questioning - which is no different to AI prompting; and evaluating our sources - which is what you have to do with AI output.

“So, it’s really just reinforcing a shift that had already begun and reinvigorated the need for it,” Will said.

Exposing weaknesses that were already there

That said, AI has exposed weaknesses in these domains and is less forgiving of skill gaps, Courtney said.

“The need was already there, but now we have to act faster. We’re not saying that everything's solved, because AI literacy skills are already embedded in the curriculum. But those same questions we’ve always had to ask are more critical than ever. AI was laying bare just how important some of the less-emphasised parts of the curriculum had become.

“In other words, we don’t need a teaching revolution to navigate the AI revolution.”

Traditional features of the curriculum are still needed

Courtney also believes that, while AI literacy is about developing capabilities, there is still a need for knowledge and understanding, as per the traditional curriculum.

“These are still super important. You can't bypass them through AI. You can't think critically about something you don’t understand. So, there is always a need for content knowledge to read, interpret and evaluate sources.”

Even seemingly AI-specific tasks might not require an overhaul of lesson planning.

Like many, Will said he had a “knee-jerk reaction” to the term “prompt engineering”, before he realised it was just about asking good questions.

“Realistically, we've been trying to get students to ask good questions of search engines for decades now.

“We already know that typing a whole question - as it is given to you - into a search engine isn't the best way to get good results.

“And that is no different for AI – you need to think critically about a topic to ask good questions and get good answers.”

Some dedicated training is necessary

That said, Will admits AI can pose unique challenges.

He says AI can sometimes fill in the gaps of student’s knowledge - and that people are generally less willing to critique AI output.

“We have seen cases where the student’s question has been misinterpreted by the AI. It's misread part of the image and its maths is correct, but it has picked up other numbers that weren't part of what was being specified in this targeted part of the question.

“But regardless, we always get students to look at whether they have been specific enough with their prompts, or whether they are articulating exactly what they mean in their question and getting the context right.

“Students need to understand that AI isn't bulletproof. It's not the fountain of all knowledge.”

Educators should trust themselves

Regardless of how much AI impacts teaching and learning, Courtney said teachers should trust themselves to lead students through the AI revolution.

“They already have knowledge and understanding about the core skills that underpin AI usage. They won’t have to go out and learn a whole new bunch of things – they just have to apply what they know in slightly different ways.”

Will adds that there is no need to educate twelve year olds perfectly about using AI.

“This isn’t something that if they don't learn it at school, they're never going to figure it out. Just learning those core skills will see students through.

“Above all else, if you want to be a good operator of AI, you need to be a good communicator and have good literacy skills.”

Moreover, specific AI education may even be redundant, given the pace of the technology’s development.

“The way we prompted our AI tools six months ago isn't how we do it now – so focussing on core skills is a much more sensible approach,” Will said.

Given these realisations, Penrhos College has decided not to have an AI policy.

Further insight

Sharing more on what the school is doing instead, Will and Courtney will address the upcoming AI in Education WA Conference.

This year’s event will be held 17 November at DoubleTree by Hilton Perth Waterfront.

Learn more and register your tickets here.