Teachers Corner 213
Harries reminded the room that technology doesn’t replace the role of family, conversation and human guidance at home. And the panel returned more than once to a related point: AI should free up more time for human connection, not less. Mentoring, safeguarding and pastoral care need to stay fundamentally human-led, whatever else changes around them. Closing Thoughts The discussion made one thing clear: AI is unlikely to replace great teachers, and it won’t replace learning itself. Its real value may lie elsewhere, in personalising learning, lifting administrative load off educators, and giving them back time for the relationships and conversations that matter most. “I would like to think AI will free the pastoral care element in the classroom.” – Katy Keenan, CEO, British Chamber of Commerce Dubai
How Schools Are Responding The conversation then turned practical. The consensus in the room was that schools should not try to resist AI. The more useful path is to embrace it thoughtfully, with clear guardrails. Clark set out three priorities for schools navigating this shift Engage with AI honestly, Teach its ethical and critical use, and Protect space for independent thought. “Discernment may become as important as technical competence.” – Dan Clark Rather than banning AI tools outright, the panel’s view was that schools should be teaching students when, how and why to use them well. The institutions that get this right, several speakers noted, won’t be the ones that avoided AI. They’ll be the ones that understood it early. The Role of Business A significant part of the discussion focused on the link between classroom and workplace. Naz Panju, Director at British Canadian International Education Ltd, spoke to the shifting workforce landscape and what it means for schools preparing students today. The future workforce is shaped long before recruitment, and schools and employers share that responsibility.
As AI reshapes industries, employers are increasingly hiring for what technology can’t easily replicate: communication, adaptability, leadership, creativity, ethical judgement and collaboration. None of these traits show up fully formed on a CV. They’re built over years, in classrooms, long before a single interview takes place. The deeper question underneath all of it, the one the panel kept returning to, is what gets lost if schools don’t protect that. The panel was aligned on this point: schools and employers share responsibility for preparing the next generation, and education can’t be planned in isolation from where the workplace is heading. “In this artificial world, how human can you be?” – Naz Panju, Director, British Canadian International Education Ltd What Should Parents Do? A parent in the audience asked one of the most practical questions of the morning: how should families support their children through an AI-driven shift in education? The panel’s advice came down to a few clear actions: Look for ways to adopt AI rather than resist it, since resistance just delays a conversation children are already having without you Learn how the tools actually work, well enough to guide a child through them rather than hand down a blanket rule Know when to step in and say stop, rather than banning the technology outright When choosing a school, look closely at its approach to AI. The ones embracing it thoughtfully now are already ahead
BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DUBAI
, opens the briefing.
Powered by FlippingBook