On Friday 24th January 2025 I had the privilege of attending UNESCO’s International Day of Education event in Paris. This year the focus was on AI in Education: preserving human agency in a world of automation.
There were many highlights to the day including welcoming students from schools across Paris to the audience. This has always been something I am passionate about, including students in discussions about their education. I’d love to see student panels at every education conference. It adds such credibility to the teachers’ presentations of what is happening in their schools when their own students are bearing witness to their words (and cheering for them!). Congratulations Antoine Delaitre on the rousing support from your students at the International School of Paris.
My favourite panel was the high-level panel on preserving human agency in an AI era featuring: Ms Farida Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education (online); Ms Marie-Caroline Missir, Director General, Réseau Canopé, France; Ms Laura Gregory, Senior Education Specialist and Global Lead on Teachers, World Bank; Mr James Cox, Head of Global Education Policy and Advocacy, Save the Children; and Mr Ryan Imbriale, Vice President and Head of Worldwide Education, PowerSchool and EDSAFE AI Industry Council member.
The words that still resonate most strongly with me four days later are those of Farida Shaheed who spoke to the critical importance of including teachers in conversations about AI in Education, “not about us without us”.
