The Nervous State: Using cross-curricular learning to develop students’ emotional literacy and subject knowledge
MARK COTTINGHAM, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD, UK JULIE GOTTLIEB, SCHOOL OF HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY AND DIGITAL HUMANITIES, THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD, UK ANDREW SPRAKES, XP TRUST, UK Introduction and context This case study summarises a collaboration between historians, educators and a dramatist to develop cross-curricular, creative methods to embed emotional literacy (Steiner, 1997; Goleman, 1996) in […]
Improving levels of student agency and self-regulation: A case study of the ‘Real LiFE’ Curriculum
STEVE HALL, LiFE MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST, UK Introduction Having been inspired by the OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 framework (OECD, 2018) and its advocacy for the development of student agency, leaders within LiFE Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) followed the achievements of schools both globally and within the UK who had purposely designed their curriculum, teaching and […]
Use of an academic framework to help students to take a critical attitude to their use of information
ANDREW K SHENTON, RETIRED EPQ MENTOR, WHITLEY BAY HIGH SCHOOL, UK The problem Students today are routinely urged to question the information that they access, and various checklists have been developed to encourage them to test material against individual criteria. Although the importance of source evaluation has been highlighted for decades, moves in this direction have […]
Mathematical creativity: An overlooked dimension?
IAIN WILSON, TEACHER OF MATHEMATICS AND THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE, MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE, MALAYSIA Ask someone to list ‘creative’ subjects and they are likely to respond with music, art, drama… but maths is not generally included. And yet creativity is a vital tool in the armoury of a mathematical researcher: if mathematicians never thought in new ways, then […]
Policy into practice: Empowering creativity and agency through ethical AI integration
Featured image source: Yutong Liu & Kingston School of Art / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MICHAEL FEGAN FCCT, ST COLMAN’S COLLEGE, NEWRY, UK Introduction St Colman’s College, Newry, first engaged with AI in late 2023. What began as curiosity soon highlighted a wider need for structure, clarity and a whole-school approach that could harness AI’s potential while […]
Building human-centred schools: Generative AI, creativity and strategic leadership
JAMES CLEMENTS, HEADMASTER, FOREST PREPARATORY SCHOOL, UK Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is no longer a peripheral concern for schools. Teachers and pupils already encounter chatbots, image generators and lesson-planning assistants in everyday work. In England, the Department for Education acknowledges that GenAI offers ‘exciting opportunities’ to improve education by helping teachers to focus on teaching and […]
Beyond the page: Contemporary classroom use of generative AI to democratise the expression of learning
Featured image source: Yutong Liu & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ DR FIONA AUBREY-SMITH, FOUNDER, ONE LIFE LEARNING, UK Roughly 60 to 85 per cent of teachers are now using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools for purposes associated with classroom practice (Latham and Montacute, 2025). These uses are widespread and varied, reflecting different exposure to AI […]
Co-constructing learning with generative AI: Implications for supporting autistic students
Featured image source: Alan Warburton / https://betterimagesofai.org / © BBC / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ DR LUCY CATON, UNIVERSITY OF GREATER MANCHESTER, UK ZAINAB PATEL, PRINCIPAL, OLIVE TREE PRIMARY, UK CHRIS HESKETH, KEY STAGE 2 TEACHER, HASLAM PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL, UK Aims and context This article reports on preliminary findings from a small-scale empirical study and outlines the implications and emerging […]
A multimodal AI approach to supporting students with English as an additional language in a British international school setting
Featured image source: Yasmine Boudiaf & LOTI / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ STEWART LAWSON-HASKETT, THE BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF NEW YORK, USA The global context British international schools are seeing a significant rise in the number of students for whom English is an additional language (EAL) (Strand et al., 2015). Teachers must balance curriculum demands with the […]
Don’t let the bots do the thinking: Reclaiming creativity and creative skills in an AI world
REECE SOHDI, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND, UK Introduction In today’s educational landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a speculative future but has the potential to become deeply embedded in teaching and learning linked to creativity. Generative AI tools can write essays, produce images and music, and suggest creative ideas at the click of […]
Generative AI, integrated curricula and a new index for measuring creative and original learning
Featured image source: Nidia Dias & Google DeepMind / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MARVIN STAROMINSKI-UEHARA, ADJUNCT ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, JAPAN This article examines how generative artificial intelligence (GAI) supports the transition from subject-based teaching to integrated curriculum (IC) models in primary and secondary education. A systematic literature review of 22 empirical studies published between 2022 and […]
Autonomy and agency in the age of algorithms: How is AI shaping professional knowledge, identity and practice?
Featured image source: Catherine Breslin & Tania Duarte / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ RACHELE NEWMAN, DIRECTOR OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON, UK SIAN CUMMING, DEPUTY HEADTEACHER, UPPER SHIRLEY HIGH SCHOOL, UK NATALIE BUNGAY, DEPUTY HEADTEACHER, WESTON SECONDARY SCHOOL, UK The benefits for teachers in engaging with research-rich professional activity include improved subject and pedagogical knowledge, as well […]
From novelty to normal: How teachers are using AI in 2026
Featured image source: Max Gruber / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ KAREN WESPIESER, TEACHER TAPP, UK Quick-read summary AI has shifted from novelty to near-routine in teachers’ professional lives. By autumn 2025, a majority of teachers report using AI weekly to support school work, although 12 per cent have never used it. Teachers’ use of AI is selective […]
Integrating AI into productivity, planning and preparation, and pedagogy in schools
Featured image source: David Man & Tristan Ferne / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CAT RUSHTON, DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTE, ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST, UK Introduction As the education system becomes accustomed to a world in which both teachers and students routinely use AI (artificial intelligence), educators are increasingly aware of its transformative potential, alongside the risks that it presents. […]
Reclaiming creativity in the generative AI Era: Dialogic pedagogy as human-centred innovation
BLESSING MAREGERE, SENIOR WORK-BASED LEARNING TUTOR AND PROGRAMME LEADER, LEEDS TRINITY UNIVERSITY, UK Introduction: Creativity at a crossroads As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) impacts education, the question confronting educators is not whether GenAI should be in the classroom but how it should coexist with human creativity. GenAI-powered writing assistants, adaptive learning platforms and automated feedback systems […]
Use AI for workload, not pedagogy: Prioritising teacher expertise and protecting high expectations for pupils with SEND
Featured image source: Wes Cockx & Google DeepMind / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ELLY PLANT, JASMINE LEONARD AND ROBBIE COLEMAN, PROXIMA EDUCATION, UK Introduction Inclusion is increasingly in the spotlight, with schools seeking to strengthen provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This shift is driven both by rising numbers of pupils with SEND […]
Effective use of AI to support EAL learners
TOM BEAKES, TRAINER, THE BELL FOUNDATION, UK This article explores where generative artificial intelligence (AI) might be used to help to enhance the learning of students who use English as an additional language (EAL) in integrated classrooms. Learners with EAL are defined by the Department for Education (DfE, 2020) as any child who is exposed to […]
The emerging evidence around the cognitive costs of learners outsourcing thinking to AI tools
DR LUCY RYCROFT-SMITH, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, UK Introduction This article considers the question: What does evidence suggest are some of the cognitive costs to using generative artificial intelligence tools in education? Research is only just beginning to address the cognitive and practical impacts of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools on learning, especially […]
A pair of ears in every lesson? Using AI to give trainee teachers richer feedback
MILES BERRY, PROFESSOR OF COMPUTING EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ROEHAMPTON, UK AI can now generate detailed, evidence-referenced feedback from a transcript of any lesson, but how does this fit with professional formation? When ChatGPT launched in November 2022, one of the first things that many teachers did was ask it to write a lesson plan. The results […]
Using generative AI: How might teachers integrate it into their practice?
HANNAH OWEN, TEACHING ASSOCIATE AND PHD RESEARCHER, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, UK The implications of artificial intelligence (AI) use in education are far reaching, potentially enabling new forms of teaching, learning and educational provision, as well as enhancing learning experiences and supporting teachers (Miao and Cukurova, 2024). And while there is much uncertainty about […]