Teach Secondary Issue 14.7

I remember once covering a geography lesson, which is certainly not an area of speciality for me. The lesson had something to do with Colombia, and a student said, “ They have lots of drugs in Colombia, don’t they? ” I wasn’t sure how to respond. It sounded like it could be a dangerous stereotype – offensive, even – to make such a sweeping statement about an entire country. But I could imagine where this comment might be coming from. I think most of my knowledge about Colombia is based onmy extensive familiarity with James Bond films, and so I think I also had this sense about Colombia. Frommy position of geographical ignorance, I thought, “ That’s either true, or it’s a very commonmisconception – and I don’t knowwhich. ” An actual geography teacher, with actual expertise, would have been able to respond properly to this comment, They would know that the illegal drug trade in Colombia is definitely ‘a thing’. But they would have been able to talk about this in the context not only of drug trafficking cartels, but also of government efforts to address drug-related crime. They would have been able to give a balanced response that didn’t leave the student with a misleading impression of an entire country. I was way out of my depth, and had to advise the students to talk with their geography teacher about it when she was back. Note, it wasn’t the case that I couldn’t think of anything to say in response to the student’s comment. I could have easily said all sorts of things, but they might have been completely wrong, or at the very least, unhelpful, and could have inadvertently created and reinforced prejudices. Sometimes, it’s just better to say less than to blunder into an area you aren’t well prepared for. We tend to trust people more if they sometimes hold back and say, ‘ Actually, I’m not sure – let me help you find someone else who actually knows about this.’ Modelling humility Another way in which teachers can help students in the context of AI is to model intellectual humility , which students won’t see, or be able to learn from in their interactions with large language models. As teachers, we don’t simply grab hold of the first view or answer that comes to mind, just so that we have something to say. We want to first check that we aren’t misunderstanding or misrepresenting what we’ve been asked. AI, at least in its current form, seems to lack this sense of caution. It doesn’t hesitate. It plunges in straight away with an immediate answer, and if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. It behaves a little like the worst kind of politician – one who always has a simple, instant view on anything you care to bring up, but not necessarily any positions or perspectives that are well thought through. As teachers, we canmodel a slower approach than AI; one where we take time to sift and weigh up facts. Yes, we can look up information when we need to, but we don’t ‘look up our views’. We form those ourselves, by critically assessing the facts and learning from other people’s perspectives. We accept that we might be wrong, and try not to be. If we’re unsure, then we’ll say so. Because there’s still lots that students can only learn from their all-too- human teachers. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Colin Foster (@colinfoster77) is a Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics Education at Loughborough University, and has written many books and articles for teachers; find out more at foster77.co.uk 25 teachwire.net/secondary T E C H N O LO G Y