Condition Red
In her fourth blog on AI in education, this week, June O’Sullivan, CEO of the London Early Years Foundation, asks us to open our eyes to its risks.
The blog is inspired by a cybersecurity course that clearly shook her. (The blog’s title is inspired by nuclear doomsday satire, Dr Strangelove.) But rather than a panicked response, what we get are a series of wise suggestions for how to use it with caution.
As O’Sullivan points out, the more we click/engage/input data into systems, the more we open ourselves up to cyber attacks. She also notes that we already live with AI (whether or not we actively use ChatGPT and other tools) so we need to get savvy.
This is certainly something schools need to be extremely mindful of. Just like the message we teach our pupils, technology can be amazing, but we must learn how to navigate around its pitfalls. Especially as most of the time, it’s their data we’re inputting.
Post-nuclear families
Another pitfall of technology is the demise of personal interactions – a worrying trend I see playing out all the time.
As teachers, we all know what conversation can do for language acquisition, and what language acquisition in turn does for wider learning.
Whether it’s the walk to primary school or the car journey to secondary (a perfect neutral setting for insightful chat), any work we can do to promote quality conversation over and above practicalities like remembering homework and water bottles can have a big impact. (And it can also be fun!)
And if you want help with that, then this lovely piece by Chris Britt-Searle offers a wealth of ideas to deploy for parents on their way to school. Underpinning all of them is the all-powerful role of conversation. A timely intervention for our time-poor times.
Atomic teaching
No, we’re not back to Dr Strangelove, but this week’s discussion on Mr. Barton’s podcast focuses on atomisation and the segue was too good to pass up.
Crudely, atomisation is the part of direct instruction that involves breaking things down into very small steps but, as Mr Barton puts it “taken to the extreme”. In conversation with him are Kris Boulton, a leader in the field of direct instruction, and Lee Wheeler, a secondary Maths teacher.
This is the second episode on the topic, so I’ve come to it mid-way, but it was nonetheless a powerful listen. Lee’s informed practice input (around early impact and pitfalls) was particularly insightful.
A strong take-away was around the power of belief in classes’ ability, buying into the idea that if pupils don’t understand something it’s up to the teacher, not down to the pupils. There’s a really interesting point about the pressure it releases when the teacher can honestly say “I can see you didn’t get it and I’ll think again”.
In order to do this, you have to be a certain kind of teacher – and certainly not the kind who goes nuclear when plans go awry.
Dropping bombs
As we are come to the end of the school year and the stressful build-up to results day begins, it seems timely to have Adrian Bethune as a guest on Andy Mellor’s podcast. Bethune has been championing teacher wellbeing in speeches, books and CPD sessions for years and here, he is on top form.
What struck me was his compassion for leaders in ensuring they are able to fulfil their roles as humans, and often as parents.
Citing the ludicrous and sadly too-real example of a colleague who was asked to stay and teach despite her child needing to be picked up from another school because they were unwell, Bethune is categorical that we shouldn’t be sacrificing our lives for more time in school.
Nobody wants to think they are replaceable, but the idea that we are indispensable can be desperately detrimental. It is our families and friends we are indispensable to.
Modelling that is how we will shine brightest for our pupils, even if it means we’re not in school from time to time.
Your thoughts