GenAI in schools: criticality, trust and professional agency

The growing presence of generative AI (GenAI) in education raises important questions about how teachers can engage with these technologies critically, while maintaining their professional judgement and autonomy.

As GenAI becomes increasingly embedded in educational practice, how can teachers navigate its opportunities and risks in ways that support their own agency and that of their pupils?

Drawing on research and experience of school leadership, Jonny Uttley and Dr Francesca McCarthy will explore how teachers can develop critically informed approaches to GenAI, considering the importance of professional judgement, cultures of trust and educational equity.

The session will explore three key questions:

How can teachers maintain professional judgement and agency when approaches to GenAI are shaped by competing demands for trust, accountability and control?
What can we learn from how pupils critically interpret and negotiate GenAI, and how might their perspectives inform teaching practice?
How can teachers engage critically with GenAI in ways that strengthen, rather than undermine, their professional judgement and autonomy?

The webinar will also introduce the SEM Framework, a practical resource for supporting pupils' safe, ethical and meaningful engagement with GenAI, and consider how its principles can inform teachers' own critical engagement with these technologies.

Participants will be encouraged to reflect on GenAI's opportunities, risks and implications for educational equity, and consider how they can support both their own professional agency and that of their pupils.

Suitable for: teachers and leaders

Can’t make it? Don’t worry. If you are unable to attend, still register to receive a recording link and watch within 14 days.

Provider

Dr Francesca McCarthy

Dr Francesca McCarthy is a researcher at the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research, UCL Institute of Education. Her work explores educational inequality, young people's experiences of schooling and the relationship between education and social structures. Drawing on critical sociological perspectives, Francesca’s research examines how pupils understand, navigate and negotiate the opportunities and constraints they encounter within educational settings.

Francesca’s recent research focuses on young people's engagement with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), particularly how pupils develop critical understandings of these technologies and exercise agency in their use. She led Talking about ChatGPT, a British Academy-funded research project exploring secondary school pupils' perspectives on GenAI, using participatory and creative methods to foreground young people's voices.

As a former teacher and senior leader in secondary schools, Francesca recognises the importance of using her research findings to support teachers’ professional development. She has recently published the SEM Framework, a free to download resource designed to support teachers in developing pupils' safe, ethical and meaningful engagement with GenAI, while encouraging criticality, curiosity and independent judgement.

Jonny Uttley

Jonny Uttley has nearly 30 years’ experience in education, including senior roles as a Headteacher, Director of Sixth Form and CEO of a multi-academy trust in Yorkshire.

Jonny is a respected national voice on inclusive education and leadership culture. He works with policymakers, charities and think tanks, is a trustee of SHINE, Visiting Fellow at The Centre for Young Lives, co-author of Putting Staff First and writes regularly for TES and Schools Week.

Jonny recently founded Jonny Uttley Education, a consultancy with a difference, offering a thought-partnership and narrative-based approach, working alongside schools, trusts and organisations to strengthen leadership, culture and inclusion.