In an effort to combat the inappropriate use of AI in schools, the NSW Government is restricting the percentage of marks that HSC students can get from take home assignments. This announcement has largely been well received. However, it also highlights a systemic problem in the education system.
Students are so willing to hand their learning over to an AI because they have been taught that the goal of school is to get a good mark. That we learn in order to pass tests, not for the sake of learning itself. This new requirement is helpful, but it treats a symptom, not the cause, and it is just pushing the problem down the line. If we don’t teach students that effort, struggle, and making mistakes are vital parts of learning, then as soon as they can take an AI shortcut, they will.
I have two kids, both in primary school, and I can see how hard their school works to instill a joy of learning and acceptance of imperfection. My daughter’s kindergarten teacher (first year of school in NSW) has a fantastic phrase she uses with her students:
Mistakes are how we learn
Ms Hill – Kindergarten teacher
Such a simple phrase, but so powerful, because it gives the kids the space to try something new, make mistakes, and even embrace them. To be ok with not being perfect and to understand that the process is what matters. The question is: How do we help our kids maintain this attitude as they get older and they start to notice the increased focus on marks and standardised testing?
Standardised testing, NAPLAN, ATARs – all of this tells students that the purpose of school is to get marks. The goal is to get the highest mark. That is how we measure success. Teachers know that this is not the case, but how are they supposed to convince the students otherwise when there is so much media focus on the top students and the top schools? When their reports sum up their work for a whole year into a single set of letters, and sometimes even list exactly where they ranked in the year? When we celebrate the outcomes but rarely the process?
The rise of AI in schools is only adding to this conundrum, and it is both a symptom and a cause. Students using chatbots to write their essays, complete their assignments, and so on are only focused on the outcome, not the process of learning. And why shouldn’t they be? Everything they have been taught in schools leads them to the conclusion that what really matters is the mark they get.
A teacher sets an assignment because the act of doing the assignment is the goal – it is how the students will learn new skills and helps them explore the subject matter more deeply. In the past, the resulting work was the means by which we could judge how well the student had carried out the assignment. These days, it’s not so easy. A student can put the question into a chatbot and get a very nice sounding essay. It might even be good enough to earn them a good grade. But they haven’t actually done the assignment! They haven’t done any research, they haven’t spent any time organising their thoughts, planning what they want to say, choosing what information to include, and what to leave out. They haven’t done any learning. But when the final mark is what matters, how can we possibly convince them that the effort is worth it?
One year, I was running a stall for Science Week with a range of maths challenges for primary school students. It was amazing how much the attitudes towards my activities changed from class to class – not student to student, but class to class. Whether they were interested and willing to give the activities a go or whether they were “bad at maths” and refused to try seemed to be an attitude shared by most students in the class.
Some students were completely comfortable making mistakes and were willing to attempt tasks even if they couldn’t see exactly what they needed to do, while others would panic when they realised they didn’t immediately know the answer. Even worse, some would give up the second they realised the activities were maths-related.
Age played a part here. Across the board the younger students were more willing to give things a go, and as they got older they became more and more hesitant, more and more stressed about getting it wrong. There were occasionally exceptions where a whole class of older students were really keen to tackle the challenges, and it was clear they were lucky enough to have a teacher that had obviously been intentionally pushing an attitude of curiosity and giving it a go. Sadly, those classes were few and far between. Those teachers were trying, but they were fighting against the tide.
It is not just the students that need support here, it’s also the parents. Too many parents believe they need to focus on the end results rather than the process. I saw a great example of this, when my son was in preschool – PRESCHOOL! The children were tasked with making a poster about their favourite insect. My son chose a ladybird. I found him a book on bugs and we read the entry on ladybirds together and then I asked him what he wanted to do, and he drew a picture of the insect, some leaves and an aphid – all very clearly 4 year old art. I showed him how to write ‘ladybirds’ and he very carefully wrote it across the top.
He worked so hard on that poster. And then he walked into preschool with his poster, proud as punch, only to be faced with all these pristine posters with paragraphs of text and perfect drawings – clearly not done by 4 year olds – and he was crushed. But here’s the thing, the preschool teachers hadn’t set this activity so they could decorate their room with perfect pictures, they had set it to give the kids the experience of taking charge, doing (basic) research and making something themselves.
So who do you think actually got the most benefit from this activity? The ones with the perfect posters or the handful of kids with not-so-perfect posters actually made by them?
Now, I must admit, when I saw those perfect posters, and my son’s disappointment, I had a moment of worry that I had let my son down. Had I done the wrong thing letting him do it himself? It was only after I saw a few more child-made posters that I was able to relax and recognise that it was ok. And those parents that made those perfect posters, they had also been trying to do the right thing. They felt pressure to make sure their kids produced something great, because that is what the system has taught us – the end result is more important than the process.
We need to shift our focus from the end goal to the journey. Help make sure our students understand why we learn. We don’t learn in order to pass a test. We learn because the act of learning makes us better. We learn because being able to deeply understand something brings a unique type of joy. We learn because that is how we can make a difference in this world.
This is part of what ADSEI does. We work to make learning meaningful and relevant. We create classroom activities using real data. Where students solve real problems, so they can see the impact of their learning on the world, instead of on their marks. This is just one small way we can help students embrace the process of learning. But there is only so much we, alone, can do. To see true meaningful change, we need everyone to be on the same page. We need to change the conversation about education in general. Change the way we talk about success. Help our students see that they are worth more than their marks. It is a big goal, but I genuinely believe we can get there.
