The Generative AI Imperative

Finding Space in a Crowded Educational Landscape

29 January 2025
Dr Nick Jackson

Introduction

Plate spinner, master juggler - role descriptors for teaching that all those in the profession know all too well. It could easily be argued that the pressures of having to do so many things at once are major contributors to the numbers leaving the profession (United Nations, 2024). The promise and dread of Generative AI looms large in education. An innovation that could fundamentally reshape teaching and learning but in the short term, offers many unknowns and educations’ responses are far from clear. AI, therefore, for a lot of teachers, can feel like just another demand in a long list of priorities.

Hence, we have a tension where the rapid growth in Generative AI and its disruptive influences on vast areas of education systems and practices, require teachers to urgently develop their skills and knowledge. Yet, many in the teaching profession are already showing more than just a few signs that they are struggling to handle the existing demands let alone add another.

Exploring the tensions

Typically, teachers are faced with competing priorities. They are tasked with delivering quality instruction, all manner of responsibilities that fall under the wellbeing umbrella while navigating a web of frameworks, measures, and policies designed to ensure accountability, drive improvement, and meet diverse student needs. It is far from media hype that teachers are already stretched thin (Farley & Chamberlain, 2021). Amid this crowded professional landscape, the emergence of Generative AI, a disruptive and transformative technology, might feel like yet another demand on their time and attention.

Yet, a growing number of educators are realising that Generative AI isn’t just another trend and needs far more than just a one off PD session (Manczka, 2024). This technology is already reshaping how students learn, access information, and interact with digital environments. AI tools, particularly chatbots, are becoming integral to students' workflows, creating an urgent need for educators to not only understand these technologies and what roles they can take but also harness them to enhance their own teaching practices.  However, this necessity exists alongside a critical tension: how do educators make room for yet another focus area when there are already so many?

To explore this tension, on one side lies the undeniable weight of existing educational priorities and the sheer volume of responsibilities teachers manage daily. On the other, the pressing importance of equipping educators with the knowledge and skills to integrate Generative AI meaningfully into their practice. To alleviate this tension may require rethinking how professional learning is designed, delivered, and aligned with teachers’ realities rather than adding another layer of complexity.

It is common for teachers to operate within frameworks like professional standards, school-wide improvement plans and accountability policies. Each of these demand compliance, reporting, and time. Although there are overlaps and opportunities for teachers to approach some of these collectively, quite often that is not the reality, leaving educators struggling to meet all demands.

Beyond frameworks, teachers face countless initiatives addressing core and changing educational goals. While critical to education, these priorities frequently require significant planning and professional learning, drawing on the same limited pool of teacher time and energy. Whether these are programs to tackle the latest trend in bullying, support social-emotional learning, or understand the latest developments in student learning needs, they all compete for attention alongside day-to-day classroom management and administrative tasks.

The results are predictable with educators feeling overwhelmed. Studies, such as those from the OECD (2021), show that teachers are consistently overburdened by competing demands, leading to burnout and diminished job satisfaction. This workload leaves little room for innovation, even when the innovations such as Generative AI promise significant benefits.

Despite its impact, Generative AI risks being relegated to the background, viewed as yet another initiative in an already crowded field. For some teachers, it’s simply not a priority, and in some schools the mantra: important, yes, but pressing, no is supported.

This reality underscores the need for thoughtful integration. Professional learning on AI must not become an additional demand; rather, it should be framed as a practical solution to alleviate other pressures. Yet, even with such framing and thoughtful integration, the likelihood of time pressures and extra demands on teachers keeping abreast of this technology remain difficult to ignore.

Navigating the Tensions

Generative AI represents a fork in the road. On one side, educators face immediate challenges, for example, curriculum changes, assessment demands, and behavioral management. On the other side, AI demands attention both in the short term, for example addressing irresponsible student use of AI in written assessments, and in the long term, for example developing practice to work with AGI or bespoke, inhouse AI systems. The tension lies in balancing these demands.

It is proposed that the following should be adopted by education institutions:

Recognise barriers to adoption:

  • Many teachers feel unequipped to understand or implement AI tools, seeing them as more work rather than a potential solution.
  • There are ethical concerns including issues such as bias in AI outputs and data privacy, and how these create scepticism.
  • Teachers are time poor and have competing demands meaning they often default to addressing immediate needs over investing in long-term innovations.

Have a nuanced perspective:

  • AI is not an additional demand; it’s a tool to address existing demands more effectively and an essential aspect of a changing education landscape.
  • Integration requires a mindset shift: AI should be framed as an enabler, not an extra.

Yet, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to integration of Generative AI as with any technology. Furthermore, the speed at which AI tools develop, the variety, general and specialist applications of these tools, not to mention teacher confidence, skills and experience with this technology are all factors to consider. Thus, some thought needs to go into how teachers can be provided professional learning they need in Generative AI.

Bridging the Gap

To integrate Generative AI effectively, here are possible strategies that align with teachers’ realities:

  1. Leadership Support:
    • School leaders should prioritise Generative AI by allocating time and resources for exploration and integration.
    • Create a culture where experimentation with AI is encouraged and supported.
  2. Involve students:
    • Recognise that students are using these tools
    • Encourage a culture of learning with and from students using AI
  3. Bite-Sized Learning:
    • Embed AI training into existing professional development sessions.
    • Offer microlearning modules, such as short videos or interactive tutorials that fit into teachers’ schedules.
  4. Immediate Wins:
    • Showcase how AI can save time, enhance aspects of work, act as a valuable assistant to an educator.
    • Highlight real-world examples where AI has positively impacted on teaching practice and improved student outcomes.
  5. Peer Mentorship:
    • Develop “tech champion” roles where early adopters mentor their peers, fostering collaborative learning.
  6. Alignment with Priorities:
    • Tie AI professional learning to existing school goals, such as literacy and wellbeing.

Generative AI is not just a tool

Despite claims that Generative AI is just a tool (Forbes Business Development Council, 2023), there are those who believe that it is a catalyst for reimagining education (Jackson, n.d.). However, such changes are not going to happen overnight. The reality for every teacher is the next lesson they teach and the pressures this lesson, week, term, semester, school year brings. To address these, requires a collective effort:

  • For Teachers: Take small, manageable steps to explore AI’s possibilities.
  • For Leaders: Provide the space and support needed for teachers to integrate AI meaningfully.

Generative AI may feel like just another thing, but it’s far more than that. It’s a powerful tool to change education, offering solutions to some of the challenges that burden teachers and completely different ways of teaching and learning. By positioning AI as both a support system rather than an additional demand and working with teachers and students to advance their thinking about AI and its impact, schools can empower both educators and students to thrive in an AI-driven world.

 

References

Farley, A. N., & Chamberlain, L. M. (2021). The teachers are not alright: A call for research and policy on teacher stress and well-being. The New Educator, 17(3), 305-323.

Forbes Business Development Council. (2023, May 26). Why AI is a tool and not a replacement for human originality. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2023/05/26/why-ai-is-a-tool-and-not-a-replacement-for-human-originality/

Jackson, N. (n.d.). AI education utopia. Now Future Learning. https://www.nowfuturelearning.com/articles/ai-education-utopia

Manczka, J. (2024). A Phenomenological Study: Teacher Perceptions of Generative Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Teaching and Learning in High Schools (Doctoral dissertation, Point Park University).

OECD. (2021). AI and the Future of Skills: Education 2030. https://www.oecd.org/en/about/projects/future-of-education-and-skills-2030.html

United Nations. (2024, February 15). UN issues global alert over teacher shortage. United Nations News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1147067

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Jackson, N. (2025, 29 January). The Generative AI Imperative: Finding Space in a Crowded Educational Landscape. AIEOU. https://aieou.web.ox.ac.uk/article/generative-ai-imperative-finding-space-crowded-educational-landscape