At an EdTech conference earlier this year, one message came through strongly: before schools can move forward with AI, teachers need to be upskilled. That matters. But we also wondered whether the idea of "getting AI-ready" can become a barrier in itself.
There is absolutely a world where teachers need to be the knowledge experts in the room. But with AI, for many, their greatest value may actually be as skilled facilitators.
We don't expect teachers to understand the technical workings of the internet before they can use it effectively to support learning. With AI, the picture is even broader. AI can be a curriculum subject, a tool that can support learning across other subjects, and increasingly, a force shaping the society and culture children are growing up in.
The level of knowledge a teacher needs therefore depends on the context — and we shouldn't make extensive training a prerequisite for simply starting to engage. The reality is that good AI education also builds directly on the skills educators already have: fostering a safe space for children to be curious and discuss openly. Most importantly, teachers know their children.
Bearing all this in mind, our Starter Programme is purposely designed so that teachers need no prior AI experience. The aim is to give them the confidence to lead discovery, rather than requiring them to become AI experts first.
Through our work with educators, we realised this approach had value beyond the programme itself. That thinking led to the OurFutureAI Academy: practical training designed to lower the barrier to entry and help educators build the knowledge and confidence appropriate to their own individual context.