World Teachers Day, celebrated on 5 October, not only pays homage to teachers and the sacrifices they make to influence the minds of future world and economic leaders, but it is increasingly becoming a celebration of their openness to change and their adaptability in a disrupted world.
The signing of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill is a statement of intent that South Africa is looking at its own education system and how legacy challenges can be addressed. With the world increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (AI)- based learning models into the development of education, will South Africa follow suit?
MANCOSA believes that while AI learning models will become increasingly influential in the future, a balanced approach needs to be adopted regarding integration.
Massive impact
Dr Stephan van der Westhuizen, an Academic Programme Leader at the MANCOSA School of Education, points out that the impact of human-based teaching models cannot be overlooked, especially within the South African context.
"One of the significant advantages offered by the human-based teaching model is that teachers can empathise with students, providing emotional support and motivation that AI systems cannot replicate (at this stage). This connection helps create a safe and nurturing learning environment.
Additionally, teachers can adjust their teaching methods in real-time based on students' needs, feedback and classroom dynamics. They can handle complex, nuanced situations that may require improvisation or individualised attention.
He adds that the human-based teaching model encourages critical thinking and creativity. It encourages students to think critically, question assumptions, and explore creative problem-solving techniques. "Teachers excel in fostering abstract and innovative thought processes.
These Teachers bring cultural awareness and ethical considerations into their teaching. They can tailor content to be culturally relevant, incorporate values, and navigate sensitive topics with care and understanding," says Dr Van Der Westhuizen.
The human-based teaching model also facilitates peer interaction, collaboration, and classroom communication. Teachers model social behaviour and encourage the development of critical soft skills like teamwork and conflict resolution.
Teachers act as mentors, providing personalised guidance, career advice, and life skills based on individual strengths and weaknesses. Teachers can draw on their experience and contextual knowledge of the educational system, society and student backgrounds to provide relevant examples.
While an outspoken supporter of human-based teaching, Duncan Park: MANCOSA Registrar, points out that AI-based learning models have benefits. "The application of AI across various sectors, including education, has predominantly aimed to enhance operational efficiency through task automation and by offering powerful tools to process, analyse, and draw insights from vast volumes of data.
In the context of teaching and learning, AI can yield significant benefits by analysing student data throughout their academic journey, using key milestones and performance indicators as data points to generate meaningful learning insights. These insights can be used to refine and improve teaching strategies and methodologies, enabling a more data-informed approach to education," says Park.
Park adds that the adoption of AI tools, whilst powerful, especially with respect to the enhancement of operational efficiency, should never be deployed at the expense of compromising academic quality or removing the human element from the learning journey.
The personalisation debate
A significant debate regarding the benefits of human-based teaching models vs AI teaching models can be found in personalisation. An argument can be made that a student with tech skills can personalise their learning journey optimally with AI. However, can it ever replace human intuitiveness?
"By analysing data on student behaviours, engagement with learning materials, and assessment outcomes, AI can provide personalised learning pathways tailored to individual learning styles and areas of struggle. This personalised approach could significantly enhance student performance as learning aligns more with their individualised needs.
However, it is crucial to remember that AI is only as effective as the data it relies on. Therefore, the learning environment must be digitised to harness AI's full potential for personalised learning and generate the necessary data for AI tools to analyse.
This presents a significant challenge in South Africa, where many schools lack the digital infrastructure required to support such systems, thus limiting the scope of AI's impact on personalising learning experiences," says Park.
Dr Van Der Westhuizen agrees with Park but points out that emotional cues are as important as cognitive milestones regarding personalisation. "In a human-led classroom, teachers are able to respond to students' emotional cues, engage in meaningful conversations, and adapt their teaching approaches based on individual needs.
Teachers can model social behaviours, provide immediate feedback, and create a supportive learning environment where students feel safe to express their emotions and thoughts. This human connection allows students to develop skills such as emotional regulation, empathy, and cooperation, which are critical components.
AI-assisted teaching lacks the nuanced emotional understanding that human teachers possess. AI can personalise learning experiences based on cognitive abilities but struggles to interpret and respond to students' emotional states like a human teacher can.
While AI can support learning in certain areas, human-based teaching remains essential for developing students' social and emotional competencies holistically.
A significant challenge
Park points out that while there are undeniable benefits to technology-led learning models, implementation will be a challenge in South Africa, and caution should be exercised.
"The implementation of tech-led learning models becomes extremely complex when considering the wider societal, economic, and environmental factors that influence and are influenced by adopting this type of tech.
In terms of simply discussing the purely technical adoption and application of AI tools in teaching, there is no shortage of benefits for us to talk about, but we also need to unpack the deeper implications that tech like this may have.
For example, the adoption of AI in teaching needs to be understood in the context of South Africa's deeply unequal school system, where there are wealthy, well-resourced schools which will have access to this type of tech, and at the same time there are schools which do not even have electricity, running water or toilets.
Given this, there is a strong likelihood that well-resourced schools will deepen these inequalities by adopting AI tools. Similar concerns arise when considering how much energy AI tools require, especially in South Africa, where energy security has been a concern for well over a decade," says Park.
Taking the lead
Acknowledging this issue, Park and Dr Van Der Westhuizen are proud to belong to MANCOSA, which strongly focuses on tech and a firm commitment to equitable education for all.
MANCOSA, a post-apartheid empowerment institution, is dedicated to serving all South Africans, with a particular focus on those from historically and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Our vision is to create a better world for all through education, and our mission is to transform lives through innovative education.
We are committed to embracing innovation in a way that benefits all, not just the privileged few, reinforcing our dedication to social equality.
Dr Van Der Westhuizen points out that a significant challenge that MANCOSA addresses on a regular basis is that students' tech skills are not equal. The tech skills of urban students are often significantly higher than those of peri-urban and rural students.
To address this, MANCOSA offers a number of courses that help students improve their tech skills.
In his last televised interview in 2018, Stephen Hawking said ever since the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there have been fears of mass unemployment as machines replace humans. Instead, the demand for human-based goods and services has risen in line with the increased capabilities of machines.
While there is a demand for greater integration of tech-based education models, there is a growing need for teachers who will nurture and inspire students in ways that technology cannot. The human element of teaching will never be lost and will always be celebrated.