AI and Teacher Identity: Food for thought

#teacheridentity

#AI

#reflection

#IATEFL

Disclaimer: I decided to take a different approach when talking about AI here. Instead of reviewing a specific AI tool (talking about pros and cons), I want to tap into a specific aspect of AI that I and perhaps many other teachers have been thinking about. 

If you are reading this to seek knowledge, you might be disappointed. You will be left with more questions than answers. But they will be questions worth asking.

I had the pleasure of attending the IATEFL conference this year. A first-time delegate, woohoo!

Unfortunately, I could only attend one day, because I am swimming in the sea of deadlines, and to be honest, I could barely afford a ticket for the full conference. Nevertheless, even in just one day, I tried my best to attend as many sessions as possible and network with many people there.

There was one session called "Forum on Teacher Identity" that was truly fascinating. The question about the role of teachers in the age of AI really sparked interesting discussion among the participants. 

Human-like is what makes humans better than AI. For example, I asked AI to generate a blog post reviewing an app and see if it writes better than I do. Here is the result:

WHAT? Dare I say this is one of the most cringy things I have ever read. Super unnatural, and the random cuss words in the post just threw me off. Does Chat GPT understand that it should imitate a teacher? This proves that we teachers are not going nowhere. We have the sensibility to act appropriately, based on the contexts and our learners. 

Another aspect is human connection. In the past, I used to be confident that teachers handled students' emotional problems better than AI, and the rapport between teachers and students cannot be replicated by AI. This is something that my students and I agreed on when talking about applications of AI or technology in general. However, nowadays, some students say that they consult AI for relationship problems and use AI as a free, always-available therapist for them. It got me to wonder whether AI is also improving to solve problems that teachers are experts at. If it did improve, what would happen?

One speaker named Robyn mentioned that she was very confident that AI would never be able to match teachers' ability to tailor learning to students' needs. I think it is true to some extent. Every time I ask AI to correct students' writing, it always suggests revisions that are way above students' current levels. I always end up having to edit the AI correction again, or even doing the correction myself. I also think teachers are more capable of picking and giving feedback that is useful for students. They not only take into account students' needs but also consider students' personalities and possible reactions towards feedback, especially negative ones.

Image from Unsplash

The speaker Hang Vu raised a very interesting question to all teachers: Do you tell students that you use AI to prepare for your lesson? If we expect students to be honest about the use of AI in their work, should we be transparent about ours?

The answer is pretty mixed. Some said yes, because integrity is an important quality to uphold in education, and as teachers, we should be role models for students. Some others, however, said that no, because it might not change students' minds about using AI. Students might view it as a green light to abuse AI to complete their work. 

Both Hang Vu and I couldn't answer this question ourselves, because this directly affects our teacher identities. We both come from Vietnam, a country where Confucian culture plays an important role in education ideology. In Confucian-heritage education, the teacher is regarded as the centre of the classroom, and "the transmitter of knowledge" (Vu et al, 2020). In other words, there is a big emphasis on the teacher being the master of knowledge in the classroom. But now, AI is becoming the new, seemingly knowledgeable teacher. If teachers admit that they use AI to develop lesson plans, some students and parents may question the teachers' knowledge and teaching abilities. 

To summarise how I feel after attending that session, I would like to use this image:

I feel like I'm at a crossroads seeing different possibilities and directions, but not knowing where to go. I think it is because I haven't mastered the art of AI, and many teachers may feel the same. 

However, I believe that sooner or later, schools and the Ministry of Education will have to incorporate AI literacy into teacher training. We are now in unchartered territory, and if we don't educate ourselves to be better teachers than AI, we might struggle to handle its unpredictability.

What about you? How do you envision AI use in your educational context? Comment below.

By the way, one thing I could proudly say is that I didn't use any AI to fine-tune my writing on this post, except for generating that cringy ELSA example haha

Reference: 

Vu, T., Winser, W., & Walsh, J. (2020). Teacher Attitudes Towards the English Language Curriculum Change: The Case of Vietnam. TESOL International Journal, 15(6). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1329511.pdf