Do you still remember the kind of teachers you have always missed from your elementary and high-school years?
It is often the ones full of passion who radiate light and warmth. While personal characteristics cannot be feigned, beyond innate disposition, they can be trained through education.
In the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era, students can access almost any information on the Internet. When facing health issues, some even seek AI for possible treatment options.
Teachers’ instructional roles might gradually be replaced by AI. As long as students are willing to learn, they can acquire diverse and enriching content through online platforms, and perhaps even via AI-powered Virtual Reality (VR) educational environments.
In that case, schools’ educational mission would inevitably evolve, and the role of teachers in schools must also be adjusted accordingly.
In the AI era, it is crucial to cultivate students’ abilities in interpersonal communication, problem-solving, emotional regulation, and the humanistic literacy required to adapt to social changes.
Schools would not disappear just yet, because they can actually create an environment for real-life human interactions. As interpersonal interactions are ever-changing and beyond the grasp of AI, they cannot be attained concretely through AI-driven learning.
In response, universities should adjust teacher training programs accordingly, as cultivating academic expertise would become less important. Instead, the focus should shift to long-term observation to select a group of student teachers who are enthusiastic and willing to actively interact with others.
Teacher training programs should emphasize group dynamics and interpersonal skills to enhance the adaptability required for student teachers to cope with social changes.
Elementary and high school students in the AI era can acquire knowledge through online learning, but they still need good teachers to guide them through mental distress and to help them walk out of the woods.
Faced with the social changes of the AI era, the educational environment needs teachers with a more mature personality, the ability to interact with people, and high emotional intelligence (EQ) who take pleasure in engaging with students.
Chen Chi-nung is former principal of Kuohsin Junior High School in Nantou County.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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