The emergence of ChatGPT has accelerated interest in the possible, probable and
preferred futures of artificial intelligence (AI). Until recently, as with many other promises of technology to disrupt and transform education, AI has remained largely an abstraction or yet, one more manifestation of the growing influence of the data mining and leaning analytics that feeds the growing data infrastructures emergent in the education sector.

The course will take a deep dive into the emerging debates surrounding ChatGPT-like tools (e.g. chatbots, Brainly, Moki, Cognii) driven by algorithms that aggregate data and information to complete a growing array of classroom tasks (assessment, instructional design, curriculum development) to school and system-wide leadership activities characterized by growing datafication and synthetic governance (learning management systems, administration, human resources and logistics).

Given the interconnectedness of the complex policy eco-systems that educators work in, course participants will be invited to consider that there are no questions that are too small or too big: What are the limitations of these technologies and the opportunities they give rise to? What cautions and concerns should we be aware of as AI appears to operate autonomously as we grow increasingly dependent on them? In taking a leadership role, how might the teaching profession think back from preferred futures, to meaningfully integrate these technologies into the learning experiences of students?

Over the course of the first four days, the course will host international experts in the field of AI and its impacts on the education sector. Each speaker and the supporting readings will contribute to course participants completing a final capping project that situates their work in the prospects of an AI enabled future. The last class (Friday, August 4) will conclude the week with an opportunity for participants to present (10 minutes) their initial proposal or prototype for their capping project (due August 15).

The digitalization of education and the disruptions it has brought to the classroom continues to be a preoccupation of a wide-swath from policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and of course, technology vendors. These commentaries have taken on a sense of urgency with the emergence of technologies such as machine learning and the broadening spectrum of generative AI including open source websites such as ChatGPT. While mobilizing a continuum of possible futures ranging from ‘Terminator’ scenarios to utopian transformations of schooling, largely missing from these deliberations are the lived experiences and perspectives of students.

Drawing on examples from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, the course will examine grass-roots and system level efforts to engage students and their representative bodies (e.g. the European Students Union) in the futures of AI. Case studies will examine how youth are coalescing responses to their encounters with growing applications of AIs such as the digitalization of learning, the next generation of formative and summative assessments and surveillance tools monitoring their engagement and academic integrity. While it remains problematic to characterize the voices of ‘young people’ as one homogenous cohort, it is evident that given current global social and ecological challenges, from their diverse communities they raise important questions about the growing digitalization of education and their lives in general. Underscoring many of the questions youth are raising is the broader existential question directed at the current generation of policy-makers and education practitioners is: what does the future you imagine think I am, and will become?

Through readings and conversations with student-leaders and their advocates from basic to higher education, grounded in an ethical commitment to the spirit of technical democracy, course participants will develop and apply the analytical tools of futures thinking. The course will include: (a) five interactive (three hour) online synchronous class sessions involving presentations from Alberta and around the world; (b) two small group professional dialogues (three hours in total) focussed on responding to selected readings; (c) a final work-based project involving a paper (2,000 words) or a self-designed alternative assessment.

Driven by the growing complexity of the social and environmental issues facing governments, communities and organizations, we are witnessing a growing interest in anticipating and imagining the future. At their core, these efforts by policymakers and consultants reflect how these actors think about change, governance, and their capacity to influence the future. Not surprisingly, the education sector has been very much subjected to these increasingly influential voices, accelerated by the sense of urgency for schools to help address environmental degradation, social justice, wellbeing and health, and the disruptions of technological change.

Working with school leaders from a number of countries, course participants will work collaboratively with colleagues to engage two questions:

• Given the ways that the future is currently being imagined by governments and future-focused organizations and the ways that these “imaginings” are intended to shape the public’s expectations of schools, what are the impacts of these developments on my work as a school leader?
• How might I assess these impacts in order to be responsive to the needs of staff and students?

Students who participate in this course will actively engage in a collaborative inquiry aimed at exploring the nature of anticipatory leadership and governance. They will use a combination of small group activity, structured readings and exploratory studies to unpack the responses to these two questions.

We will explore four frameworks for anticipation, based on the work of Muiderman, Gupta, Vervoort and Biermann:

1. Probable Futures, Strategic Planning and Risk Reduction
2. Plausible Futures, Enhanced Preparedness and Navigating Uncertainty
3. Pluralistic Futures, Mobilization and the Co-Creation of Alternatives
4. Performative Futures, Critical Interrogation and Political Dynamics.

Since 2010 Alberta has been on the promised path of educational transformation. While there have been many policy pronouncements and initiatives at the provincial government level, little has changed on the curriculum and assessment fronts. This course will examine some of the global influences that have contributed to the inertia and unhelpful polarization that is our current predicament. In response, with a focus on social justice and sustainability, practical strategies will be explored for reaffirming the role of the teaching profession and local communities in shaping curriculum renewal. Recognizing the truly global nature of our educational challenges, case studies from Alberta schools will be augmented by examples of school leadership in curriculum renewal from New Zealand. School leaders will be invited to contribute their final projects to a growing network of futures studies research-practitioners committed to UNESCO’s Education 2050 initiative.

This course is an interactive learning experience over the course of four full day classes followed by a period of self-study leading to final project. Each class begins with a panel and/or plenary speaker intended to offer provocations and possibilities for reimagining curriculum interventions that will be pursued in a workshop atmosphere in the afternoon. The design principles of Regenerative Thinking and will inform curriculum redesign focused on commitments to decolonization, sustainability and social justice.