WHAT TEACHERS NEED TO LEARN & UNLEARN

At the BW Education School Leadership Summit, school principals shared notes on the new pedagogical approaches, the evolving role of technology, and emphasis on wellbeing

- By Team BW

For the panellists, the key question was not whether technology should be in the classroom but how to use it responsibly. AI can help personalise learning and take students to the edge of their potential. Yet, it must not detract from the most important outcome — critical thinking, they emphasised. ChatGPT can help you get answers quickly, but if students stop thinking critically, they risk losing the very skills that define human intelligence. They also talked about the flipped classroom and admitted that teachers today often find themselves learning from their own students, especially the 'digital native' generations. Today's children, especially Gen Alpha and Gen Beta, were born into a world of AI. Many times, they are ahead of teachers in using technology. But technology cannot teach empathy, kindness or resilience, and which is where teachers' role is important. As the panel drew to a close, one message stood out, while the pace of technology will only accelerate, education must not lose sight of its core purpose. To prepare students for the future, schools must cultivate critical thinking, empathy, resilience and adaptability, skills that no machine can replicate.

The speakers were: Imran Rashid, Chief Business Officer, Physics-Wallah; Dominic Tomalin, Headmaster, Shrewsbury International School India; Abhishek Kumar Yadav, Founder Chairman, Griffins International School, Vidhi Mistry, Executive Director, Oxford International India; and Rupa Chakravarty, Director, Suncity School, Gurugram.

Social Media & Mental Health

In the panel discussion