Shifting schooling…

…for a post Gen-AI world.

Hello all. Welcome to the 119th edition of TEPS Weekly! 

How many years after the calculator was invented did the Indian school system allow the use of calculators in the classroom? And how many years did it take for calculators to appear in the workplace? Similarly, how many years did it take the school system to adopt ‘Computers’ (that was what the subject was originally called) into the curriculum as a subject in the classroom? And we are just now getting at least one computer in every school in our country – after about 35 years of ‘computers’ being a part of the curriculum.

However, we think that with Gen-AI (Generative Artificial Intelligence), the change needed is going to be drastic and fast. We may even go out on a limb here and ask how much of the NEP 2020 is already outdated with the spread in use of Gen-AI. Gen-AI is already altering how we work, think and create. The challenge ahead is not whether we should respond, but how. In the middle of this shift stands the school – with its timetables, textbooks, assessments, and of course teaching and learning.

What is likely to change with Gen-AI?

As Gen-AI takes over many tasks that once required human intellect – such as writing, summarising, coding, translating and analysing – and schools need to re-evaluate what and how students are taught. Studies based on classroom observations and current (and emerging) AI capabilities show that there are three key shifts that are most likely in the coming years:

1. Information or knowledge is not limiting any more

2. Gen-AI will become a tool for learning

3. Gen-AI will become a tool to reduce intellectual tasks

If these shifts occur with Gen-AI, then what will be the role of teachers, schools and textbooks in education? Who is a student in a post Gen-AI world?

Once we say that knowledge or information is not limiting, then does education need to help students with knowledge delivery? We think not. The shift must come in the way we think about knowledge and information. We can no longer think of textbooks as the primary source of information (this should have happened long ago, but that is for another time).

Students will need to learn how to navigate large amounts of information and verify its accuracy

Students don’t need teachers to repeat what AI can explain in seconds. Instead, they need support in asking better questions, verifying AI-generated information and distinguishing fact from fiction.

What teachers can do

1. In Mathematics, ask students to use an AI tool to solve a problem, then explain why AI’s method works (or doesn’t).

2. In Science, have students ask AI to explain a scientific concept (e.g., photosynthesis), then fact-check it using their textbook.

3. In English language, ask AI to write an informal letter and have students edit it for tone and appropriateness as per exam expectations.

Students should focus on higher order thinking instead of knowledge gathering

With basic recall and procedural skills easily handled by AI, students must learn how to analyse, create and reflect. So there should be a shift to classrooms being a centre for higher order thinking rather than places where knowledge is distributed. 

What teachers can do

1. In Mathematics, ask: "How could this problem be changed so it becomes unsolvable?” to promote analytical thinking.

2. In Science, give a scientific explanation and ask: “What might happen if one variable changes?”

3. In Social Studies, analyse two state policies and ask students to debate which one was more effective and why.

Students will need to learn to collaborate more

Firstly, with the amount of information that Gen-AI and the internet can give you, no one person will be able to navigate not just the sheer volume of information but also the complexities of a topic. 

What teachers can do

1. In English language, in pairs, students co-write an article or interview script, taking turns editing each other’s work.

2. In English literature, have a group discussion: “Who is the real hero of the story?”

Secondly, a lot of skills that used to make people hirable will no longer hold, and skills like collaboration, leadership and active listening will become key skills for hiring.

Students will need to be evaluated on the process and not the product

AI can write a good essay. But can a student explain how they arrived at their ideas, what they changed and what they learned? Process becomes the evidence of learning. Student assessment of learning should not focus on the final product (the essay), but the process involved in creating the final product. How does the student’s first draft differ from the second or third? Is the student willing and able to take feedback? Is the student able to synthesise feedback between drafts? 

What teachers can do

1. In Mathematics, instead of just solving, students must submit reasoning steps and alternative strategies.

2. In Science, emphasise observation logs and error tracking in an experiment.

3. For all subjects, get students to have reflection journals that the teachers look at from time to time.

Now that we have seen how the expectations and role of the students and teachers change, let’s move our focus to the textbooks.

Textbooks should no longer be the final authority of ‘knowledge’

Instead, a textbook becomes a springboard for inquiry, a guide for practice and a framework for teacher decisions. Textbooks will need to adapt – to become more flexible, include AI-linked activities, AI-linked assessments and allow for multiple pathways to understanding. 

Textbooks should have resources that students can explore. Textbooks should ensure that they are fact-checked by AI and vice versa. This means that a textbook goes from being a passive information store to an actively updating knowledge base.

The role of school leadership

When we speak of any systemic shift in education, we need the school leaders not just to be on board but also to lead the change. This change is not about buying expensive technology or installing AI software – it’s about rethinking how learning happens.

1. Redefine teaching expectations

Update internal documents, performance rubrics and training priorities to reflect the new role of the teacher – as a learning designer, not a content deliverer.

2. Make AI-literacy a school priority

Introduce structured, age-appropriate opportunities for students to experiment with, reflect on and evaluate AI tools. Teachers too should be given time to explore these tools – not as experts, but as co-learners.

3. Redesign assessments

Encourage departments to rethink how they assess. Introduce rubrics for collaboration, allow for draft-feedback cycles and promote tasks that focus on how students think, not just what they produce.

4. Encourage collaborative and inquiry-based learning

Restructure timetables or classroom formats to allow longer blocks, team tasks and integrated subjects. Students must get used to working together, discussing, debating and revising.

5. Invest in teacher professional development

Offer regular, hands-on training where teachers experience the six shifts for themselves. Help them build strategies to scaffold students through these changes.

6. Revisit curriculum materials

Encourage teachers to supplement the textbook with other resources—AI-generated content, multiple perspectives, real-world data. Engage publishers or internal teams to co-develop more flexible content systems.

7. Foster a culture of exploration

Let students and teachers know it’s okay to try new approaches, fail and learn. Publicly celebrate teacher innovations, student prototypes and group projects. 

The emergence of Gen-AI is not a threat to the existence of teachers or schools. But it is a challenge to the role of teachers and schools as it has been perceived so far. It is an opportunity to make learning more human. When machines take over repetitive tasks, we are free to focus on what really matters: creativity, empathy, ethics, collaboration and critical thinking. For school leaders, the work ahead is not to replace the system – but to gently, thoughtfully and firmly shift it.

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Edition: 4.26