A School for Emerging Thought
You will not be surprised that we are currently discussing the use of AI in education, with a few staff having recently visited BETT, the world’s biggest EdTech event, held in London. The impact of AI is schools is likely to impact three key areas, by:
- reducing the time and effort teachers spend on lesson preparation and marking.
- allowing pupils to practise skills with less teacher input.
- prompting us to rethink the nature of a good education.
AI will undoubtedly play an increasing role, but it is the last aspect which is perhaps the most interesting. Some of our decision-making will be influenced by factors outside school, such as the nature of external assessments and the skills required in the future workplace, but educators could fall into two different camps of opinion:
- That traditional knowledge and skills are becoming pointless, and children should instead learn skills like critical thinking, creativity and teamwork. Those adopting such a position will then need to explain how these ‘new’ skills will be taught without the underpinning of traditional subjects and knowledge.
- That learning to think clearly and independently in a world full of AI is vital, and the traditional ways of achieving this (i.e. a traditional education) will therefore only become more important. Those advocating this view would perhaps argue that struggling to write an essay, solve a question, or draw a picture with pen or pencil in hand is the best proven method for developing the human brain and so must be safeguarded.
This term, we conduct academic scholarship interviews, primarily for 11+ entry and for Sixth Form. The latter is always a most inspiring highlight for me! We probe how pupils think and how deeply they think, as we know that thinking ‘hard’ both develops the brain and leads to even more creative and exciting thinking. We want our scholars to be catalysts in the classroom, to pose difficult questions, to extend the bounds of their understanding and to 'infect’ those around them with the joy of exploration and discovery. Higher up the school, we award a prize for Scholarship and Courtesy, recognising that the best learning occurs in healthy and respectful interaction and collaboration with other pupils and with teachers, and not in isolation. In such a way, all our pupils can adopt a scholarly approach to their endeavours.
That scholarship is nowhere more apparent than in our student publications, with our Young Scientists’ Journal (Leicester Grammar School - Young Scientists Journal) now complemented by the exciting new Young Arts and Humanities Journal (FINAL Young Arts and Humanities Journal). The first edition is a showcase for the Foundation Day Essay Competition prize-winners, writing on either a book they feel changed the world or a book that changed their world. We hope you will read and enjoy!
Best wishes,
John Watson
Headmaster and Principal