The project was designed as a three-day professional development workshop for teacher trainers from the National Center “Өрлеу” (Orleu), Kazakhstan. A total of 20 teacher trainers participated in the programme, representing a range of subject areas and levels of experience in teacher education. The aim of the training was to support participants in engaging more deeply with artificial intelligence (AI) within educational contexts, moving beyond technical use toward a more reflective and critically oriented understanding.
The workshops’ structure and activities were inspired by methods from the CulturAI project, the Skills Pillar projects, and the AI + Us Alliance, especially their focus on dialogic learning, critical questioning, and investigating AI as a sociotechnical system. Activities aimed to make participants’ thinking visible and to uncover assumptions about AI. For instance, participants compared human and AI-generated content, analysed Kazakh cultural representations created by generative AI, and discussed what might be “inside the black box” of AI systems regarding data, processes, and decision-making.
Rather than focusing on teaching and learning with AI tools, the sessions looked at teaching and learning about AI by encouraging participants to consider where AI outputs come from, whose perspectives are represented or excluded, and how AI may influence teaching, learning, and knowledge creation. Reflections collected through surveys, discussions, and reflective diaries indicate that many initially approached AI as a tool for improving efficiency and their professional practice. As the workshop progressed, participants developed more nuanced perspectives. Many recognised that the workshop allowed them to move from focusing on how to use AI toward asking what AI is, how it works, and what implications it has. Overall, the programme demonstrated the potential of professional development workshops to support teacher trainers in adopting more reflective, critically aware approaches to AI, especially when activities are collaborative, dialogic, and relevant to their context.
If you are interested in running this type of workshop at your school for teachers, contact Dr Maira Klyshbekova maira.klyshbekova@kcl.ac.uk
