'What if I'd ruin students' thinking?' - Teachers fostering students' thinking in AI times

Researching for my next book Hope for Education, I listened to Experience and Education by John Dewey. If I could sit with him over a cup of tea... His words, written in 1938, enliven my 5 E's strategy. Dewey wrote about dialogue in which all are equal, participative learning, the teacher leading experiential activities. He claimed when teacher controls, students doubt their thinking.

So, I think the teachers' concern mentioned in this article's title, about ruining students' thinking, opens the question: What sort of thinking?

If we instruct and transfer knowledge, we might ruin critical thinking, since the students will adjust to being under control, not having opportunities to exercise their own thinking. We might ruin their creative thinking, because if they have eureka moments, they will stifle them, since sharing them promptly would interfere in class.

If we give them opportunities to draw on ideas, and to pursue them, finding purpose in learning, planning how to develop them into educational products, we might ruin their linear thinking, which has its pluses.

Does promoting linear thinking ruin critical and creative thinking? How about vice versa? A known fact has been that creative thinking is related to the right brain, while linear thinking to the left one. Today, with neuroplasticity, we could argue that the kind of thinking we nurture will become prominent. Yet, new brain maps can be developed throughout our lives.

Would using AI ruin students' thinking? The idea is to use it for learning, students finding more ideas (expanding their divergent thinking) and tying them up (convergent thinking). We'd still want the ideas to come from the children and youth themselves.

Dewey suggests that the point of danger is when we focus on the present and the future, overlooking the past. We need to relay the past to students, building the present and the future upon it. Past knowledge provides a basis. AI supported experiential learning expands learning.

In Creativity in the Classroom, Alane Jordan Starko suggests that when a child does a prank, it's probably based on a creative idea. Yet, an inappropriate one. We should teach from early childhood that if an idea might hurt someone or something, it is wrong. I think this rule should be applied to using AI for learning. If the child uses AI as a replacement to his/her own thinking, critical and creative thinking might become stifled.

Dewey explains sometimes teachers hold back from providing guidance, fearing they might interfere with students' thinking. According to Vygotsky's zone of Proximal Development, students cannot advance without that push from a grown up. Today the teacher cannot compete with AI for being the one with the widest knowledge. However, Dewey insists that the teacher is the person with mature life experience in the classroom.

I like what Dewey writes about the teacher being leader of the experiential learning. The most researched leadership style in recent years is transformative leadership. It means providing intellectual stimulation together with individual consideration. Let's see how we weave that with the 5 E's strategy:

Explore – Intellectual stimulation by past knowledge.

Experience – Learning activities. Focus on the present with an eye to the future. Students drawing on their own insights and ideas.

Examine – Teacher reflects upon students' ideas with them, providing individual consideration.

Elevate – Teacher directs students toward educational product. Possible use of AI to expand students' and teacher's thinking.

Express – Students submit, share or present their learning products.

Finally, according to Cropley, creativity might imply questioning existing knowledge, doing things in a different way. A student like that might be "difficult". Might instigate disorder in the classroom. Well, critical thinking (questioning knowledge) is something we'd want students to do when using AI. Doing things differently would be threatening, if it's inappropriate. But when appropriate, we'd praise originality. We are fostering innovation skills. And disorder in the classroom could reflect structured space for human thinking. In that sense, we'd ruin students' thinking by not leading their experiences throughout this space. If you worry when they forget to be polite, think of Dewey's view that they are simply immersed in what they are doing. That's good. We'd want them to dive into constructive learning experiences, to foster their thinking especially in AI times.

Dewey signifies experiential learning's continuity. So, a specific use of AI should not damage thinking. It could serve for the teacher to guide positive future experiences. Yet, reproach could hold students back from ever trying again. Appropriately trying, being ethically directed, is good.

As you see, we are dealing with questions of good or bad. Timeless questions, yet very timely. As in my poem for this article's painting, it is an infinite dance of dark and bright. Which means that the concern mentioned at the title of this article is very human, thank God.

Night kisses day, day kisses night,

in an infinite dance of dark and bright.

So has it been since the dawn of time.

There’s lots of time.

So go on with the rhyme.

Make the dance timeless!

Michelle Korenfeld –

Author, painter, poet, lifelong educator and creativity researcher for the past 20 years, dean's excellence in education leadership, administration and policy MA, brings a fresh breeze to the school bag, with creativity and innovation throughout the learning rainbow.

Find this article's painting and poem in Creative Children Like the Animals of the World, Michelle's student book. Foster thinking in proactive learning environments by Michelle's Anti-Bullying STEAM Curriculum! Your thoughts in the comments section will help expand this article in Michelle's next book: Hope for Education. Thank you!

Raising Creative Thinkers logo Michelle Korenfeld's website practical educational inspiration

Further reading:

Cropley, A. J. (2010). Creativity in the classroom: The dark side. The dark side of creativity, 297-315.

Dewey, J. (2013). Experience and education. Audible.

Starko, A. J. (2014). Creativity in the classroom: Schools of curious delight. Routledge.