Pilgrim School held a Pilgrim Party on January 31st to discuss how schools are using AI, preparing children for the future, and the importance of critical thinking and soft skills.
To Principal Tim Butcher, university of winchesterElizabeth Stone, Lancing College Principal Dr Scott Crawford, Sevenoaks School Senior Vice Principal Liz Wells and Petersfield Churchers College Deputy Principal Ian Knowles.
Butcher opened the panel discussion with the question, “We often say that AI is the future. In education, we’re very good at preparing students for the world we used to have. How do we prepare kids for a world that’s going to be updated more than apps?”
This question sparked a lot of discussion, with staff agreeing that it is possible for AI to enter education, creating study timetables and assisting with research.
Many teachers detailed how school curricula were being “redesigned” to prioritize increased contact time with paper and pen.
“We’re trying to get kids to think for themselves,” Stone said. “If they reduce their cognitive abilities, that goal is defeated. The point of going to school is that it becomes a gymnasium for kids’ minds.”
She pointed out that works such as Essays on Macbeth focus on developing critical thinking and literacy, rather than the end goal in school.
The use of AI prevents this development because it works through an “innate biological tendency to take the easy way out.”
Mr. Knowles detailed how the school operates a traffic light system for AI and tells students when it is appropriate to use it, even though students primarily study using “pen and paper.”
“If they’re going to use it, they need to use it well. Our job is to coach them on how to use it wisely,” he said.
Several speakers said they understood that some students would not have access to AI or exams and did not want to use it.
This was followed by a discussion about the purpose of education, with the rise of AI focusing on “harnessing and developing soft skills” such as teamwork and a passion for the creative arts and sport.
“There are some scary ideas about what education can look like. I believe that education is a human work. We create communities, memories, people, characters,” Ms. Wells said.
Teachers touched on the “problem of social and emotional outsourcing” to AI chatbots, stressing the need to interact with peers, ideally without technology.
