Why AI in Schools Is a Pedagogical Shift, Not a Tech Trend
AI isn’t just changing tools, it’s reshaping how we teach, what we value, and how students learn.
This post is part of a series exploring how schools can integrate AI meaningfully, ethically and strategically. Written in response to the UAE’s national AI in education mandate, it offers insights and strategies for educators across all curricula and contexts, from Dubai to Dublin, Delhi to Durban and everywhere in between.
Subscribers will also receive exclusive access to linked planning tools, CPD resources, and practical guides, just like in the John Hattie series.
The moment is bigger than just the tools
Over the past year, conversations about AI in education have accelerated, fast. But while most headlines focus on new apps or clever prompts, the real story unfolding in schools is deeper. This isn’t just a tech trend. It’s a pedagogical shift.
At its core, AI is forcing us to ask big questions:
What is learning? What is our role as educators? What do we want students to know, do, and become in a world where information is instant and automation is everywhere?
That’s what this series is about.
Why this series, and why now?
In 2025, the UAE became the first country to mandate the use of AI across all schools, public and private, primary and secondary. But the need to respond to AI isn’t unique to the UAE of course. From Ofsted to IB, from PISA to curriculum boards across the world, the urgency is universal.
This series is written for school leaders, teachers, and educators who want to engage with AI thoughtfully and practically, not as a checklist, but as a chance to rethink how we teach, what we value, and how we prepare students for the future.
The shift: from automation to amplification
Let’s be clear: AI won’t replace teachers. But it does challenge us to rethink the default structures of school.
Take a writing lesson, for example. Where a teacher may once have collected 30 drafts and marked them over a weekend, AI now offers the chance for live editing and instant feedback. Students can draft in real time, experimenting with tone, asking for vocabulary support, and revising on the spot, with the teacher present to guide the process. As one student put it: “It helps me get started. I don’t want it to write everything, I just like not feeling stuck.” This is the space we must protect: where AI removes friction without replacing thinking.
What doesn’t change
Even in the age of AI, some things remain non-negotiable:
The role of the teacher: Relationships, curiosity, and classroom culture still sit at the heart of great teaching.
The importance of ethics: We must lead with care, protecting children’s safety, wellbeing, and data dignity.
The value of critical thinking: Students still need to evaluate, interpret, and make meaning. AI can generate a summary. It can’t generate understanding.
Reflective questions
• Where in your school does AI already show up, explicitly or implicitly?
• What learning do you want to protect, amplify, or reshape?
• Are your staff ready to have these conversations? If not, what would help?
What’s your school’s biggest question about AI right now?
Add it in the comments, this series is designed to spark reflection, not just provide answers.
Useful Links
Michael Fullan – A Rich Seam: How New Pedagogies Find Deep Learning - This report connects digital tools with pedagogical transformation—exactly the message of your blog. AI fits within Fullan’s vision of rethinking teacher roles, student agency, and authentic learning. Full PDF from Fullan’s official website
UNESCO (2021) – AI and Education: Guidance for Policy-makers - Offers a global view of how AI is transforming education beyond tools—highlighting pedagogy, ethics, and inclusion. This mirrors your “not a tech trend” argument. https://www.unesco.org/en/digital-education/artificial-intelligence
AI in Education Blog Series – Full List
This 4-week blog series explores how schools can embed AI meaningfully, ethically, and strategically. It blends leadership thinking, pedagogy, inclusion, and subject practice. New posts are published four times a week through June and July 2025.
Week 1: Orientation – Understanding the Shift
1. Why AI in Schools Is a Pedagogical Shift, Not a Tech Trend (You are here)
2. How to Talk to Students About AI (Even When You’re Not an Expert)
3. Bridging the Gap: What Parents and Teachers Need to Understand About AI
4. How Ready Is Your School for AI? A Leadership Reflection
Week 2: Teaching, Equity & Ethics
5. Planning with AI Without Losing Professional Judgement
6. Can We Really Teach Ethics in AI? Yes – Here’s How
7. What Inclusive AI Use Looks Like in EAL and SEND Contexts
8. Keeping Students Safe: The New Rules of AI and Safeguarding
Week 3: Teaching Across Subjects
9. Reimagining Reading and Writing: AI in English and Arabic
10. AI in Math and Science: From Calculation to Simulation
11. What Happens to Critical Thinking When AI Can Summarise?
12. Creativity and Authenticity in the Age of AI
Week 4: Strategy, Assessment and Future Readiness
13. What Every School Needs Before Saying “We Use AI”
14. Why CPD on AI Should Start with Questions, Not Tools
15. What Does “AI Literacy” Really Mean – and How Do We Know Students Are Gaining It?
16. From Pilot to Policy: Embedding AI in the School Development Plan