SUPPORTING GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL LEADERS’ PURSUIT OF AI-ENABLED LIFELONG LEARNING FOR ALL

Abstract

Supporting Educational leaders’ Pursuit of Lifelong Learning Enabled by AI iii Abstract Central to the growing use of AI in K-20 education, is the arrival of a global educational agenda focused on lifelong learning for all. It almost always falls to the leader to implement innovative change without overwhelming and demotivating teachers or faculty. In short, no matter how astonishing the technological innovation is, no matter how grand and worthwhile the agenda, nor how challenging the context in which they take place, change does not become part of public education without the hard work of educational leaders. It follows then that potentially the most significant educational innovation of all time, the design, development, and implementation of AI to enable more equitable lifelong learning for all, is the leader’s responsibility. The response that educational leadership will make locally to this watershed moment in education may very well depend on how they perceive the benefits and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses of AI. Will specific supports help leaders engage more actively in the pursuit of this global agenda for change? This mixed methods research study sets out to answer these questions by working to uncover the practices and perspectives of 65 educational leaders globally who work at different levels of K-20 education in publicly funded systems. Seven key findings were discovered. AI has made itself at home in the schoolhouse. The way educational leaders in K-20, respond, or fail to respond, will define their roles moving forward. Currently, it is unclear if principals and presidents of K-20 publicly funded educational institutions understand what is meant by a new global agenda for education focused on the realization of lifelong learning for all, whether they see themselves as responsible for co-designing the use of AI in education to help realize that mandate or whether they see how Supporting Educational leaders’ Pursuit of Lifelong Learning Enabled by AI iv they might use their positions of soft power and influence to shape such changes. It is unclear if educational leaders are preparing themselves thoroughly enough for the global educational AI revolution that has only just begun. What might AI have to offer in this challenging educational context and how might educational leadership be supported locally to realize the potential for good? This study seeks to find that out.