Why CPD on AI Should Start with Questions, Not Tools
To build confidence, curiosity, and critical thinking, staff development on AI must begin with purpose. not products.
This post is part of a series exploring how schools can integrate AI meaningfully, ethically and strategically. It offers insights and strategies for educators across all curricula and contexts. from Dubai to Dublin, Delhi to Durban and everywhere in between.
🔍 Why Tools-First Training Falls Flat
It's tempting to launch AI professional development with a demo of the latest app. But showcasing tools without context often leaves staff confused or overwhelmed. A slide deck of “20 AI tools in 20 minutes” might look impressive, but it rarely builds confidence, critical thinking or long-term adoption. The goal is not to dampen curiosity, but to channel it with clarity, caution and shared purpose.
Instead, AI CPD needs to begin with questions, the kind that provoke reflection, discussion, and connection to real practice. If teachers don’t understand why or how a tool aligns with their values, pedagogy, and curriculum, it won’t stick. Worse, it might even lead to harmful practices or overreliance.
Good AI CPD asks:
What problems are we trying to solve in our teaching and learning?
How do we ensure students are supported, not replaced, by AI tools?
Where do issues of bias, data privacy or overdependence show up in our classrooms?
This shift from tool-first to purpose-first is what builds a professional, reflective AI culture.
🧠 In Practice: What Effective AI CPD Looks Like
Effective CPD on AI doesn’t require staff to be technical experts but it does require intentional, thoughtful design that meets teachers where they are. The most impactful professional development creates space for curiosity, collaboration and critical thinking, without overwhelming participants with jargon or too many tools. When done well, AI CPD helps staff connect innovation to their existing pedagogy and values, encouraging experimentation with purpose and confidence. It becomes a vehicle for deepening subject knowledge, refining assessment strategies, and improving workload, not adding to it.
Below are real strategies schools are using right now to embed AI meaningfully into their professional development work.
Build curiosity first – Start with case studies of AI use in specific subjects, then ask teachers to identify opportunities or risks in their own context.
Use staff learning journals – Teachers reflect on what they’ve tried, what worked, and what they still wonder. This supports gradual, low-pressure experimentation.
Focus on one big question per session – For example: “How can AI support writing feedback without compromising voice?”
Make it subject-specific – Science departments explore simulation generation, English teams evaluate tone and inference in AI summaries, and Primary teachers use AI for vocabulary mapping.
Include coaching and peer observation – Some schools pair teachers to try AI in planning, then debrief what they learned.
Normalise unlearning – Create space to critique early misuses of AI and reshape assumptions. What seemed exciting at first may not align with pedagogy.
Create a digital PD wall – Capture screenshots of interesting AI prompts, reflect on successes and “fails,” and share practices in a live staffroom space. Use a whiteboard, Padlet or staffroom slide deck to collect and share screenshots of AI use, successful prompts, or learning takeaways. Make it visual and ongoing.
“We stopped asking ‘what’s the best tool?’ and started asking ‘what’s the right question for our students?’ That changed everything.”
— Middle Leader
🚶 Next Steps for Leaders
Schools looking to embed AI into their staff development pathways should start by reviewing how they currently do CPD. AI integration is not just a tech topic, it touches planning, assessment, safeguarding, pedagogy and equity. It must be woven into whole-school improvement, not bolted on.
Here are realistic next steps that leaders are taking:
Audit current CPD structures – Is AI mentioned in your PD calendar? Where could it sit in cross-curricular planning sessions?
Start with core questions – Create school-wide prompts like “How might AI support deeper questioning?” or “How do we avoid AI feedback replacing the teacher?”
Engage curriculum leaders – Ensure heads of department or phase leads explore subject-specific AI practice with their teams.
Identify and develop champions – Support 1–2 early adopters with coaching and visibility, so others can learn from them safely.
Include risks and responsibilities – Don’t just show tools. Offer training on bias, student data, ethical design, and digital citizenship.
Time it right – Use a staff INSET, Twilight or development cycle — not just an email of links.
AI CPD is not about technical know-how, it’s about professional confidence, curiosity and challenge.
✅ What Schools Must Have in Place
Embedding AI across professional development isn’t a one-off training or an isolated initiative; it’s a cultural shift that requires clarity, consistency and long-term thinking. Schools that do this well don’t just offer a CPD session and move on. They put in place the right foundations that support safe experimentation, critical reflection and shared growth. These foundations are what allow AI adoption to become thoughtful, ethical and sustainable, rather than reactive or surface-level.
Below are the key conditions that really help schools establish and build meaningful and lasting AI integration into their professional development offer.
Clear vision – School leaders articulate why AI matters in their context, linked to wider teaching and learning goals.
Shared language – Staff know the difference between AI prompting, editing, generation and evaluation.
Ethical framework – CPD includes case studies of misuse, bias and “AI hallucinations,” not just success stories.
Student voice – Staff consider what students are experiencing with AI outside school, and how to address that within PD.
Sustained development – AI is part of a wider CPD strategy, revisited across the year, not just a one-off session.
🔗 Useful Links
1. Chartered College – Transforming CPD Through AI in Sixth Form Colleges
https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/harnessing-artificial-intelligence-to-transform-cpd-and-reduce-educator-workload-in-sixth-form-colleges/
Explores how targeted, values-driven AI CPD reduced workload and boosted engagement in real post-16 settings.
2. LinkedIn – AI Will Change Professional Development Forever
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-change-professional-development-forever-tale-two-phillip-alcock-gtugc/
A tale of two schools, one driven by reflection, the other by tools. Perfect read for senior leaders looking to get AI CPD right.
🤔 Reflective Questions
Are staff in your school asking deep, meaningful questions about AI, or just collecting apps?
What misconceptions might your teachers hold about AI, and how can CPD gently address them?
How do you balance excitement with caution when introducing new AI tools?
What structures allow staff to reflect, share and grow with AI, without judgment?
This week, review your next staff CPD session, is it framed around questions, or tools?
AI in Education Blog Series – Full List
This 4-week series explores how schools can embed AI meaningfully, ethically and strategically across curriculum, CPD, leadership and inclusion. New posts are published four times a week throughout June 2025.
Week 1: Orientation – Understanding the Shift
How to Talk to Students About AI (Even When You’re Not an Expert)
Bridging the Gap: What Parents and Teachers Need to Understand About AI
Week 2: Teaching, Equity and 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 Language of Instruction
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. (You are here) 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