- New TBI paper argues lack of clear vision and strategy for AI
in schools leaves teachers struggling and growing advantage gap.
- ‘Generation Ready: Scaling Safe, High-Quality AI in England's
Schools' notes affluent schools already using AI to solve issues,
while state sector struggles.
- Among proposals is ‘national AI teaching assistant' to offer
personalised support to students and free up teacher time.
AI-powered teaching assistants should be given to every teacher
to free them from admin and deliver personalised learning,
according to the Institute for Global Change
(TBI).
In new paper ‘Generation Ready: Scaling Safe, High-Quality AI in
England's Schools', TBI argues that a lack of clear vision,
fragmented adoption of technology and missed opportunities for
reform have resulted in exhausted teachers, inequality and a
failing system.
Released as education leaders gather at the Bett Conference, the
paper puts forward an ambitious plan to overhaul England's
education system.
At the heart of this plan is a call for the Department for
Education to take AI in schools seriously, including through the
introduction of a national AI teaching assistant for all
teachers. Used properly, TBI argues, such a system could
transform teachers' workloads, freeing them from tedious and
time-consuming administrative tasks while supporting personalised
learning.
The AI teaching assistant would be designed to augment, not
replace, teachers or in-classroom support. It could help students
with tailored explanations, practice questions and revision
materials, while supporting teachers with lesson planning,
marking assistance and early identification of learning gaps.
The AI assistant would give teachers back time to focus on what
they do best – teaching. As a result, students would be given
access to learning resources and strategies tailored to them, not
just a one-size-fits-all approach that leaves some pupils
unchallenged and others unsupported.
The Institute warns that without a clear national strategy for
managing AI in classrooms, the technology's risks, including
misuse and inequalities from uneven access, will run ahead of
policymakers and school leaders.
With AI already in schools, the question is whether it will be
shaped deliberately in the public interest.
TBI's analysis and polling underline the scale of the challenge.
Only 10 per cent of state secondary schools teach pupils how to
use AI in subject teaching, despite the growing availability of
tools. Barely half of secondary schools have reliable
whole-school Wi-Fi, making effective digital learning impossible
in many settings.
Private schools, meanwhile, are surging ahead. Many already
provide pupils with devices, strong connectivity and structured
access to AI-enabled learning tools. Without intervention, TBI
warns, this uneven adoption will hard-wire inequality into the
education system, with access to the most effective learning
tools limited to privileged students.
Our children also risk falling behind on the global stage, with
AI tools being rolled out in classrooms internationally, such as
in PISA leaders Singapore, South Korea and Estonia.
Alexander Iosad, Director of Government Innovation Policy
at TBI, said:
“There are plenty of people who think children should be as
far away from screens as possible, and who see AI as nothing but
a danger or a way to avoid real learning. What we hear less is
how transformative it can be. Teachers come into teaching to
teach. Yet they are overworked, under pressure, and their
attention, time and energy are too often taken away by the
tedious and automatable.
“Any government serious about tackling inequality needs to be
looking at the education system. It must pull every lever to
close the disadvantage gap with evidence-based solutions and find
and build new ones that work. Private schools are more than happy
to use new, AI-powered tools for their students. It would be
irresponsible to exclude the vast majority of young people in the
country from safely using the same tools to transform their
learning too.”
To make a national AI teaching assistant viable and fair, the
Institute argues that students must have consistent access to
appropriate digital devices. The paper therefore proposes
allowing pupils to bring their own laptops and tablets into
school to support learning alongside a government-backed loan
scheme to provide devices to pupils whose families cannot afford
them.
Crucially, TBI stresses that such a system must be built with
strong safeguards around data protection, transparency and
accountability. TBI therefore calls for an Education AI Action
Plan to oversee the rollout and ongoing management of reform,
setting clear expectations for how tools are deployed, how data
is protected and how teachers are supported.
As the Bett Conference showcases the latest education technology,
TBI argues that innovation alone will not close the gap. Without
a clear strategy for AI in classrooms, and without universal
access to the tools that make it effective, the benefits will
accrue to a minority while the risks fall on the rest.
You can find an embargoed copy of the paper here
