UNESCO AI Framework: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has released an artificial intelligence (AI) competency framework for teachers, a global reference document that defines the knowledge, skills, and values that educators need to use artificial intelligence responsibly in schools.
The publication, authored by Fengchun Miao and Mutlu Cukurova and first published on August 8, 2024, argued that AI has changed the conventional teacher-student relationship into a “teacher-AI-student” dynamic. It noted that this shift requires a re-examination of teachers’ roles and the competencies needed in an AI-enabled education system.
According to the global body, only a few countries have defined these competencies or developed national programmes to train teachers in AI, leaving many educators without proper guidance. The framework looks forward to addressing this gap by defining the knowledge, skills, and values teachers must master in the age of AI.
Following the principles of protecting teachers’ rights, enhancing human agency, and promoting sustainability, the publication outlined 15 competencies across five dimensions:
- Human-centred mindset
- Ethics of AI
- AI foundations and applications
- AI pedagogy
- AI for professional learning
The report further categorised these competencies into three progression levels:
The authors noted that in education, AI can reduce teaching and learning processes to calculations and automated tasks in ways that devalue the role and influence of teachers and weaken their relationships with learners. “It can narrow education to only that which AI can process, model and deliver.” the book noted.
The document asserted that the use of AI in education requires careful consideration. “Teachers are the primary users of AI in education, and they are expected to be the designers and facilitators of students’ learning with AI, the guardians of safe and ethical practice across AI-rich educational environments, and to act as role models for lifelong learning about AI,” it said.
“To assume these responsibilities, teachers need to be supported to develop their capabilities to leverage the potential benefits of AI while mitigating its risks in education settings and wider society, it added.”
According to the report, by 2022, only seven countries had developed AI frameworks or programmes for teachers.
The authors stated that teachers need to have the critical capacity to assess the potential positive and negative impacts of AI. Additionally, artificial intelligence and other digital technologies must not discourage people from staying in contact with others and with the real world, as well as from respecting rights to ways of living and knowing beyond digital spaces.
According to the official document, the aim of using AI in education should move beyond merely providing access to information and standardised responses, towards inquiry enrichment, intellectual development, and capacity empowerment.
As per the report, a human-centred approach to AI in education is critical – an approach that promotes key ethical and practical principles to help regulate and guide practices of all stakeholders throughout the entire life cycle of AI systems.
The use of AI in education without appropriate pedagogical guidance may weaken the intellectual development of students, the book noted.
