How can schools use AI to enhance – rather than replace – the human relationships that make great teaching possible? Vice Principal of Westbourne International, Ed Swanwick, examines how the sector’s independence can enable innovation.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept; it’s a present reality reshaping industries at extraordinary speed. In the workplace, AI is automating everything from data entry to complex analytical tasks, often performing them more efficiently than humans. This shift will change the kinds of jobs available to today’s students. Technical know-how will still matter, but the skills most in demand will be those that make us uniquely human: empathy, creativity, adaptability, and the ability to collaborate.
The challenge for education is clear – adapt, and quickly. Here, independent schools have a unique advantage. Relatively free from the constraints of government bureaucracy, and certainly more so than the maintained sector, we are able to respond with agility, experimenting with new approaches and, in doing so, adjusting our course rapidly. This independence makes our schools well-placed to lead the way in shaping an education system fit for the AI age – while protecting the human heart of learning…